Lundqvist injury raises cage safety questions Henrik Lundqvist's freak injury came as a result of the goaltender wearing the popular "cat eye" style mask. Yet, as TSN Senior Hockey Reporter Frank Seravalli writes, the injury isn't likely to spur change.

Frank Seravalli TSN Senior Hockey Reporter Follow|Archive

PITTSBURGH — Antti Raanta couldn’t wait until he turned 18 - and not only because that’s the legal drinking age in his native Finland.

It’s the age of majority when goaltenders can decide to play with a “cat eye” style mask, which has oversized eye openings to increase the field of vision for pucks.

“You can see so much better from that,” Raanta explained.

Raanta’s Rangers counterpart, Henrik Lundqvist, returned to the ice on Friday afternoon at Consol Energy Center to test his vision some 40 hours after teammate Marc Staal’s blade gouged his eye through the same style mask.

The freak occurrence raised questions about goaltender protection since that style of mask is banned for use and sale in Canada. But NHL goaltenders, who do not answer to regulatory body Hockey Canada, have made the “cat eye” mask the near unanimous choice.

Lundqvist appeared to come through largely unscathed.

Rangers coach Alain Vigneault labeled him as a “game-time decision” for Saturday’s Game 2, after he was forced to pull himself from Game 1 because of trouble seeing.

Lundqvist sat at the podium on Friday, perfectly styled and coiffed as usual, with a purple mark on his left eyelid as the only visible damage. He visited a specialist on Thursday in Pittsburgh and reported there was no internal harm.

“Today I felt pretty good,” Lundqvist said. “It’s more the swelling around the eye to make it uncomfortable. But practice was good, the vision was good. It’s more about the swelling around the eye that affects it, but I’m very pleased with the way it felt.”

Lundqvist said there were “20 to 30 seconds” where he had “some really bad thoughts” going through his head. He couldn’t see as he writhed on the ice in pain.

“It was such a weird feeling because it was extremely painful but at the same time you go numb a little bit, so you don’t know what’s going on,” Lundqvist explained. “Before you open your eyes, you don’t really know what the reaction will be and that was the scary part for 20 or 30 seconds, not knowing. I wasn’t sure. It was just such a hard hit that I was shock at the same time that it happened. But then you open your eyes and slowly things start to feel a little more normal.”

Both Lundqvist and Raanta said they couldn’t remember many similar incidents. But they have occurred with increasing frequency over the years. Penguins netminder Marc-Andre Fleury sustained a cut below his eye when he was poked by teammate Ben Lovejoy in November.

Lightning goalie Ben Bishop said he felt like his “eye was falling out” when he was gruesomely clipped in San Jose in December. Former Islanders goaltender Rick DiPietro had his cornea scratched by Sidney Crosby years ago.

“Accidents happen,” Lundqvist said. “I feel still as a goalie, you’re pretty well protected, so I don’t see it as an issue. Obviously within a year here, I’ve experienced two freak accidents (a throat injury in Feb. 2015), but I still feel like the equipment is good and there is nothing really to change.”

Raanta knocked on his wooden stall in the Rangers’ dressing room.

“It was pure bad luck,” Raanta said. “I think the stick can fit just enough.”

Rangers defenceman Keith Yandle said he probably couldn’t squeezed his blade through the enlarged cage opening if he tried during a game.

“Unless the mask comes up or something, it’s so rare to see that,” Yandle said. “Your stick needs to go through on a perfect angle.”

Lundqvist said he wore a different mask when he played in Sweden but switched in the NHL.

“It makes a big difference, it opens it up for your vision and your eyes,” Lundqvist said. “It’s a good thing that you have that ‘cat look’ as they call it. I don’t want to change that.”

And that is the exact reason few changes to the mask structure have been made over the years. The NHL Players’ Association works in a 50-50 partnership with the NHL on goaltending equipment matters, including the mask standard.

“Cat eyes were discussed at length, as it is the preferred cage of NHL goalies,” NHL director of goaltending equipment Kay Whitmore said Friday. “More injuries occurred from bending or broken cages than from stick penetration, so the standard dealt with strength and material composition of the cat eye to ensure it was of the highest quality. The type of injury Henrik incurred happens quite infrequently. Other certified non-cat eye cages are readily available for any (NHL) goalie if they want it.”

The "cat eye" style mask, left, has become the near unanimous choice for NHL goaltenders. (Images courtesy of Otny Enterprise Ltd., manufacturer of NHL cages.)

Health Canada wrote in a 2009 letter to Hockey Canada that the “wider cat-eye design on some goaltender masks” does not meet the country’s health standards because it does not provide adequate protection against pucks or sticks, according to In-Goal Magazine. They are not available for sale in Canada and not permitted for use in minor hockey.

Every current NHL goaltender is believed to use the cat eye style. John Vanbiesbrouck, Dominik Hasek, Kelly Hrudey and Don Beaupre are just a few of the netminders over the years to buck the trend.

A few years back, manufacturers reinforced the middle of the cage with a second bar, which only slightly reduced the eye hole. It still allows for a stick blade to fit through.

“This is a one in a million injury. It’s a big story because it’s Henrik Lundqvist,” TSN analyst and former NHL goaltender Jamie McLennan said. “But there really haven’t been many injuries over the years. I think if you could slightly shrink the eyes so a stick couldn’t fit in there, guys would be fine with it. It’s only a small adjustment.”

Contact Frank Seravalli on Twitter: @frank_seravalli