I played for three years without any incident. In the span of two weeks, I was hit in the facemask with a deflected puck and went to poke a puck and had the other team's player's stick travel up mine and hit me in the cage. The last shot, had I not been wearing a cage would more than likely have broken my jaw. It's not a question of if you will get hurt, but when, it's inevitable. If you are willing to loose teeth, or possibily even your vision, go without the cage. Wearing a cage or a visor is a desicion you have to make on your own. If you have to come to a forum like this and ask, you should probably wear a cage.