Interesting. Never played, would've never known that.
Well, other people's experience may vary, but I've never been bothered by the cage in terms of vision. You do notice the weight though. I'm use to playing with it, but when you take the helmet off entirely to just shoot around after a pickup or whatever, you notice just how much it pulls your head forward.
As an aside, skating without a helmet at all is really great. I can fully understand why guys resisted helmets for the longest time. Wind in your hair feels great, and keeps you nice and cool.