The last guys who shunned a helmet

[darkhorse686]

I know MacTavish was the last in 96-97 and think Rod Langway was the second last (in 92-93 or so)

Who were the last, say, 10 and when did they finally wear head gear (or retire)?

 

[arrbez]

I think Brad Marsh and Randy Carlyle were helmet-less till the end of their careers, which also ended in 1993.

 

[blamebettman*]

Doug Wilson was a helmetless defenseman, retired with San Jose at the end of the 1993 season. Harold Snepsts was another one who retired in 1991 I believe.

 

[reckoning]

Al Secord, Guy Lafleur, Nick Fotiu, Ron Duguay and the six players already mentioned in this thread were the last ten
http://www.nytimes.com/1988/11/14/sports/question-box.html

 

[seventieslord]

yep, those are the 10. When I was young I had those names memorized, and as they retired they got checked off my mental list.

 

[RabbinsDuck]

It was crazy seeing MacTavish out there in the mid-90s.

 

[darkhorse686]

Thanks for those replies.

I knew Marsh never wore one and forgot about Lafleur.

I know Brad Smith and (I think) Peter McNab went bareheaded right to the end of their playing time. Surprising they weren't in the last 10 considering when they retired (1987)

 

[Derick*]

yep, those are the 10. When I was young I had those names memorized, and as they retired they got checked off my mental list.

You're a freak.

Doug Wilson's old pictures with the Sharks look really, really strange to me. Seeing a player on a team that started well after I was born not wearing a helmet is surreal.

 

[darkhorse686]

Dwight Foster retired in 87 and he was bareheaded too I think.

 

[Peter9]

That linked New York Times piece is incorrect in saying Lafleur played eight seasons before the mandatory helmet rule came into effect in 1979, all without a helmet. Lafleur wore a helmet during his first two or three seasons with the club. Taking off the helmet was credited as part of the reason for his emergence as a scoring star.

 

[Dump and Chase]

Greg Smyth took his off after the rule change allowed him to do so in about 93?

 

[TheStranger]

A question I've had for awhile without finding a real answer...was MacTavish the last one that could possibly not wear one as well as the last one not to, or was he just the last one to decide not to?

 

[blamebettman*]

He was the last one who decided not too. Messier, Gretzky, Ray Bourque, any any other guy who came into the league in the late 70's had the option to go without one

 

[Scott1980]

Did Langway not continue on after '93? In the minors, of course. Was he still not wearing a helment when he retired as a player?

 

[Steelhead16]

Did Langway not continue on after '93? In the minors, of course. Was he still not wearing a helment when he retired as a player?

He for sure didn't wear one in 95-96 in San Francisco. He played one more year after that in Providence and I never saw any of their games but I would assume that he didn't in 96-97 as well.

 

[crobro]

does anyone know who the last goalies to go maskless were


NHL,IHL,AHL INCLUDED.

 

[Infinite Vision*]

Seen a game of MacT diving infront of shots while killing penalties helmetless in 97. Crazy to say the least.

 

[DJ Man]

does anyone know who the last goalies to go maskless were


NHL,IHL,AHL INCLUDED.

Andy Brown was the last. Gump Worsley was the last notable one.

[Edit: That's NHL only. I can't say about the other leagues.]

 

[Derick*]

He was the last one who decided not too. Messier, Gretzky, Ray Bourque, any any other guy who came into the league in the late 70's had the option to go without one

Who was the last player who had the option?

 

[Mayor Bee]

Who was the last player who had the option?

Any player active in 1979 would have had the option to shirk the helmet, so the last one to retire is the answer to your question. That's Messier, preceded by Bourque, then Dale Hunter, then Gretzky. And it can be argued that Hunter and Gretzky, by virtue of donning a Jofa 235, basically went helmetless their entire careers.

 

[darkhorse686]

Here's another one related to head gear.

Who was the last goalie to wear the old Friday-the-13th type mask? One source I read claimed it was a Mark LaForest (not sure when that was). I've seen clips of Bannerman wearing one as late as 1986 so I guess it was after.

 

[Mayor Bee]

Here's another one related to head gear.

Who was the last goalie to wear the old Friday-the-13th type mask? One source I read claimed it was a Mark LaForest (not sure when that was). I've seen clips of Bannerman wearing one as late as 1986 so I guess it was after.

Sam St. Laurent, although he switched from the fiberglass style to a more modern one in the early 1990s.