Remember Ron Duguay's permed hair flapping in the wind as he strode up and down the ice? How about Guy LaFluer's vampire widow peak reflecting the shine from the overhead lights? Remember when a fight broke out in a hockey game and you didn't wince every time a player threw a "real" punch because you weren't worried about Dave Schultz splitting his hand open on his cowering dance partner's plexiglass visor?

No? Then, you are younger than 40 and you will have to trust me on this. It was super cool.

[caption id="attachment_6925" align="alignnone" width="181"] Is that naturally curly?[/caption]

Hockey fans love to see our hero's faces on the ice. There is a rock star factor at work. As a kid, I didn't even take the time to learn a player's jersey number or squint to read the name on the top of the number. I didn't need to!  It was as easy as recognizing your friend's face walking down the street or peering over cubicles and using physical characteristics to verify it's the person you are looking for -  before embarrassing yourself and calling Tom by the name of Michael or even worse ... calling him Mary  - (Lew's memo: Have employees wear jerseys with their names and a huge number instead of boring ties and power suits).

[caption id="attachment_6928" align="alignnone" width="226"] "Turn down the lights...we can't see the game."[/caption]

So why would I predict and even promote that the time has come for all skaters to wear full face visors instead of partial visors?  Simple answer -It is time for full face visors for the same reason it was time for Hall of Fame Goalie Jacques Plante to demand that he be allowed to wear his homemade goalie mask before re-entering a game where he already had face his split open: Player's safety. *To our younger generation of Hockey Fans...there was a time when goalies didn't wear a mask! That's right - NO MASK! Yikes! Crazy Right? By the way, goalie masks were way cooler than today's baseball catcher's style masks. If you have never been to the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto; check these bad boy masks out.

[caption id="attachment_6934" align="alignnone" width="294"] "Plante refuses to re-enter the game for obvious reasons by today's standards and common sense!"[/caption]

Partial visors only partially solve the problem. Players are still getting hit by pucks and sticks below the partial visors and even up and under the visor. NHL Players are still keeping dentists rich by losing teeth on a regular basis even though some players wear a mouth guard.  Mouth guard versus a 120 mile per hour slapper equals dentures at an early age. Eye injuries are among the scariest injuries that are still prominent in today's game. Kyle Okposo's detached eye retina injury this year is all one should need to reference to promote full face visors as soon as possible. Sidney Crosby's broken jaw also demonstrates the liability of not having full face visors. The game can ill afford to lose their star players.

Not concerned with player safety?  Many NHL executives would suggest that a majority of their older generation hockey fans don't give a flying flip about player safety.  However, they do care tremendously about maintaining the integrity of the game.  "Our" game is supposed to be the toughest of all the professional sports. A sport whose players do not leave the game because of a minor five inch open gash on their forehead. Hockey players get stitches on the bench and re-enter the game with the same fearlessness with which they started with at the opening puck drop.  Losing teeth during a game is a badge of honor making your Stanley Cup smile legendary - right Bobby Clarke?

[caption id="attachment_6943" align="alignnone" width="300"] "I am one good looking guy."[/caption]

However, we now see our beloved tough guy players "fall down" whenever a hockey stick taps their helmet as if they have been hit by a Muhammed Ali knock out punch...holding their faces while they flop to the ice. Players now launch themselves into the boards when they feel a push from behind as well but I digress. Retired NHL players are admitting that their coaches taught them to flop and flail when they feel the slightest tick on their helmet, visor, or actual face. Hockey fans do not want their sport compared to - gulp - soccer.  We don't want our players being rewarded for pretending to be hurt for a competitive edge. We certainly don't want games decided by a power play derived from an Oscar nominee performance. Meanwhile, the referees can just as easily miss a legitimate and harsh high stick to the face because they cannot "see" the entire game and from every angle unlike the television cameras. Full face visors would remove most of the inconsistency of the high-sticking call.

I am a purist hockey fan. I do reminisce about how wonderful it was to have players skate free with their beautiful or beastly mugs in plain view. Every player who entered the NHL as of the 2013-2014 must now wear a partial visor. In the name of player safety, I agree with this move.  However, let the players take off their helmets and attached visors when they want to truly fight, not put on a WWE show where I am supposed to believe they are truly throwing punches when it's obvious they are whiffing on purpose.  Who can blame them? Would you want to throw a punch and hit helmet and, even worse, the edge of a partial visor and break your hand?  It's another indicator that fighting in hockey, whether real or faked, probably should become the stuff of hockey legend and lore. Full face visors would probably be the proverbial nail in the coffin on fighting in hockey.

[caption id="attachment_6942" align="alignnone" width="274"] "Luke, I am your father."[/caption]

So bring on the fish tank heads. Hockey fans will get used to it. We will not miss the feigned high sticks and instead we will watch our heroes skate through the pack fearlessly and ferociously.  Yes, they might take a couple taps to the face while doing so, but it will not matter since the player's face will be completely protected. It will not take away the physicallity of the game and hard hits or even player toughness. One only needs to look to the NFL's progression of helmet advancements to rest assured that the game's hard hits and contact will not suffer; in fact it may flourish with full face visors.

We cannot imagine a goaltender wanting to take off their mask because it impairs their vision or just doesn't feel comfortable. Plante was a genius ahead of his time. Plante intuitively sensed that player safety equals increased confidence which equals more exciting hockey; and who can disagree with wanting a more exciting hockey game?