“Everyone is looking forward to a time where wearing masks and stuff won’t be necessary,” Reimer said. “You’re just grinding it out now and trying to make the best of it.”

But unless professional players are under doctor’s orders to protect their faces, full shields are not allowed in the NHL and AHL, North America’s two top leagues.Tennessee Titans for NHL Face Masks

"If it had, then I would probably be a paraplegic," Cole said at the time.

Another from the 1976 season, Ken Dryden’s face mask is perhaps one of the most recognizable in Canadiens history. Still in the early days of mask design, Dryden breaks the top three for being one of the earliest to incorporate team branding into his mask design.

The NHL’s oldest head coach still worries about COVID-19 but not enough to stop doing his job. It’s a risk-reward proposition coaches and executives around sports are weighing, and while Florida assistant Mike Kitchen is the only one to so far opt out of hockey’s return, plenty of others are considering masking up behind the bench and taking other precautions in the middle of a pandemic.

Since the groundbreaking rule, most leagues of all levels in the United States passed rules to require skaters to attach a hockey visor or hockey shield to their helmets.Miami Dolphins for NHL Face Masks

We Finally Know When The Montreal Canadiens Are Getting Back On The Ice