Stitches Or Reconstructive Surgery?

We've already seen a pretty gruesome facial injury this season when Marc Staal took a shot to the face that nearly blinded him thanks to his choice of not wearing a visor. After suffering the injury, Staal is reportedly going to wear one when he returns. Tonight, we got another reason why visors are important as Nate Thompson's face was spared the full wrath of a Mike Green slapshot due to his plastic shield.

Here's the video of how Thompson's visor exploded on his face, yet saved him from what could have been a serious concussion, hours of surgery, and possibly even death.

I'm not going to lie: I winced the moment I saw Thompson take the puck in the face. Having been hit in the face myself from a deflected slapshot, it brought back memories of intense pain, lots of blood, and a lot of swelling. Thompson will still experience all of this much like I did, but it could have been much, much worse.

The full force of the slapshot was absorbed by that shattered visor one can see in the top photo. Because the visor took the major impact, it appears that Thompson will escape with a few stitches rather than something a lot worse. Sure, he leaked a little blood, but it could have been much worse had the visor not been there. Having his head take the full force of the Mike Green slapshot could have been catastrophic.

Anyone still think that visors shouldn't be mandatory? More importantly, anyone in the NHLPA think they shouldn't be? Marc Staal will tell you differently. Nate Thompson will tell you differently. Common sense should tell you differently.

Thankfully, Nate Thompson's visor did its job and kept Thompson safe. Kudos for Thompson for wearing one before it may have been too late.

UPDATE: Here are the remnants of Nate Thompson's visor, courtesy of his Twitter account @NateThompson44. Still think visors don't save faces and lives?

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!