Why was Craig MacTavish allowed to not wear a helmet?

[Big Phil]

Okay, so I know when this was grandfathered in. It started in the 1979-'80 season. Anyone who was a rookie needed to wear a helmet. Others who played before this, which were lots of course, didn't have to if they didn't want to. I always knew MacTavish played his first NHL season in 1979-'80 but I always more or less assumed he played a year or two in the WHA and they would have honoured that as a season in pro hockey before the NHL, so in other words you aren't considered a "rookie" in the NHL, which is exactly how Gretzky was viewed in 1980, hence why he didn't win the Calder. Furthermore, someone like Rod Langway, one of the last to never wear a helmet started his NHL career in 1978-'79 but was in the WHA a year earlier. Never wore a helmet up until his retirement in 1993. Doug Wilson, Randy Carlyle, Harold Snepsts and even Guy Lafleur all come to mind as some of the last holdouts to not wear a helmet but all had their NHL careers started prior to the 1979-'80 season.

I honestly just as well assumed MacTavish was in the WHA prior to the NHL. Never really looked into it until now. But I see he was with the University of Massachusetts up until 1979.

MacTavish is unique because I think for the last 3-4 years or so he was the sole player in the NHL who didn't have a helmet (trying to think of someone other than him after 1993 but can't off the top of my head). But he wasn't a pro until the fall of 1979. So technically he didn't qualify did he? The only way I can see that he slipped past the mandatory helmet rule starting at that time was because he was drafted in 1978 and perhaps the NHL honoured that?

What is stranger, is that when MacTavish was a Bruin, while I have almost no recollection of this, you can see that he wore a helmet as a Bruin. Strange that he changed as an Oiler. But I am just wondering how he got around it.

 

[Michael Farkas]

As I recall, it was anyone who signed a pro deal before June 1, 1979 was grandfathered. Which I'm pretty sure MacT did...

 

[Bear of Bad News]

Mike's correct - Craig's contract came in just under the wire.

 

[Big Phil]

That makes a lot of sense. I knew there was some sort of obscure thing I didn't see.

My question is why did he take it off when he became an Oiler? By 1985 while there were a handful of players still without one I would say above 95% of the NHL was wearing a helmet and the trend was going up the further they got away from 1979.

 

[FerrisRox]

Furthermore, someone like Rod Langway, one of the last to never wear a helmet started his NHL career in 1978-'79 but was in the WHA a year earlier. Never wore a helmet up until his retirement in 1993.

Langway wore a helmet for multiple seasons.

 

[KMart27]

Wasn't there also a season in the 80s where players were again allowed to not wear helmets?

 

[Sanf]

Wasn't there also a season in the 80s where players were again allowed to not wear helmets?

It was as late as in 92-93. Greg Smyth was the only one to leave the helmet off, but that was only for some games. Also Brett Hull played the All-Star game without helmet.

 

[KMart27]

It was as late as in 92-93. Greg Smyth was the only one to leave the helmet off, but that was only for some games. Also Brett Hull played the All-Star game without helmet.

That's right. I remember that. I believe there was a time in the early 80s as well. Oddly enough, I think it was 92-93 that MacTavish tried wearing a helmet again.

 

[Uncle Rotter]

Are you going to tell a guy that just got out of the big house that he has to wear a helmet?

 

[Big Phil]

Are you going to tell a guy that just got out of the big house that he has to wear a helmet?

I was going to try and avoid mentioning that part of his life between Boston and Edmonton.

Langway wore a helmet for multiple seasons.

I guess he did as a Hab. Can't find a picture of him as a Capital wearing one though up until his retirement. Not sure when he took it off.

 

[Jumptheshark]

Okay, so I know when this was grandfathered in. It started in the 1979-'80 season. Anyone who was a rookie needed to wear a helmet. Others who played before this, which were lots of course, didn't have to if they didn't want to. I always knew MacTavish played his first NHL season in 1979-'80 but I always more or less assumed he played a year or two in the WHA and they would have honoured that as a season in pro hockey before the NHL, so in other words you aren't considered a "rookie" in the NHL, which is exactly how Gretzky was viewed in 1980, hence why he didn't win the Calder. Furthermore, someone like Rod Langway, one of the last to never wear a helmet started his NHL career in 1978-'79 but was in the WHA a year earlier. Never wore a helmet up until his retirement in 1993. Doug Wilson, Randy Carlyle, Harold Snepsts and even Guy Lafleur all come to mind as some of the last holdouts to not wear a helmet but all had their NHL careers started prior to the 1979-'80 season.

I honestly just as well assumed MacTavish was in the WHA prior to the NHL. Never really looked into it until now. But I see he was with the University of Massachusetts up until 1979.

MacTavish is unique because I think for the last 3-4 years or so he was the sole player in the NHL who didn't have a helmet (trying to think of someone other than him after 1993 but can't off the top of my head). But he wasn't a pro until the fall of 1979. So technically he didn't qualify did he? The only way I can see that he slipped past the mandatory helmet rule starting at that time was because he was drafted in 1978 and perhaps the NHL honoured that?

What is stranger, is that when MacTavish was a Bruin, while I have almost no recollection of this, you can see that he wore a helmet as a Bruin. Strange that he changed as an Oiler. But I am just wondering how he got around it.

drafted in 78

 

[sr edler]

MacTavish had that big fluffy thick semi-curly hair. I bet if he was balding he would have put on a helmet faster than anyone can say "self-conscious".

Rod Langway in Washington also had a nice (or at least pretty big) piece of hair. It's true though that he was beginning to become more bald when he was still playing without a helmet with the San Francisco Spiders in the mid 90s but not a lot of people watches those games anyways, so it's easier to fly under the radar.

 

[scott clam]

I thought it was also that anyone who was born before 1960 was also exempt?

 

[FerrisRox]

I guess he did as a Hab. Can't find a picture of him as a Capital wearing one though up until his retirement. Not sure when he took it off.

During his fourth season as Canadien - his last in Montreal - he sustained an injury because of his helmet and took it off.

 

[popo]

MacTavish is remembered primarily for the unique trivia of being the last player to go without a helmet.
I remember seeing him play for the Oilers when I was a kid. But my memory was how he was a PK specialist, defensive forward, and gritty player.
Rewatching a lot of classic hockey lately, and seeing MacTavish I'm a bigger fan than ever. He was every as advertised, but relative to his era, a skilled player. He was 110% hustle all over the ice; and he was a clean player who never took a dumb penalty but played physical. Unlike the expectation for a defensive specialist, he actually carried the puck a tonne, and generated good offense. I think on weaker teams he'd have easily been a #2 centreman.
I remarked on my observations to my dad, and he agreed. Noting that MacTavish was definitely a "dangler" who harkened back to earlier generation of forwards like Keon or H.Richard.

 

[The Panther]

MacTavish is remembered primarily for the unique trivia of being the last player to go without a helmet.
I remember seeing him play for the Oilers when I was a kid. But my memory was how he was a PK specialist, defensive forward, and gritty player.
Rewatching a lot of classic hockey lately, and seeing MacTavish I'm a bigger fan than ever. He was every as advertised, but relative to his era, a skilled player. He was 110% hustle all over the ice; and he was a clean player who never took a dumb penalty but played physical. Unlike the expectation for a defensive specialist, he actually carried the puck a tonne, and generated good offense. I think on weaker teams he'd have easily been a #2 centreman.
I remarked on my observations to my dad, and he agreed. Noting that MacTavish was definitely a "dangler" who harkened back to earlier generation of forwards like Keon or H.Richard.

Yes, he was a really good player. Glen Sather was often doing what the Oilers called "reclamation projects", meaning picking up players who'd had personal issues or whom other clubs had given up on. Sometimes it worked out, sometimes it didn't. Sather was the only NHL GM who offered MacTavish a try-out in 1985, so MacT got in shape, went to Edmonton, and earned a roster spot as a free agent. Joining a club that had just gone to the Finals three straight years wasn't an easy line-up to crack, and MacT was already 27 when he arrived, but he made it and took over the third-center role for the next eight years. They actually lost in his first season, to Calgary in 1986, but it wasn't his fault -- other than Gretzky, he was probably the Oilers best forward those playoffs.

He was 'shifty', not a playmaker, but he could carry the puck really well and throw other teams off by it. He was also deadly on breakaways... not that he got a lot of them. And of course great at face-offs.

I have nothing but respect for how MacTavish carried himself after his dark days in 1984-85. Let's face it, a ton of NHL players (and people in general) have gotten behind the wheel after a few drinks when they shouldn't have (Ray Bourque was recently caught doing this, sadly), and most of the time they get away with it, luckily for them and others. MacTavish -- whom I don't think was particularly known as a party animal -- was not lucky (nor the girl he hit, to state the obvious). It is what it is, but I don't judge people by their unintentional errors; rather by how they redeem themselves and learn from them.

MacTavish is also the 2nd-best coach in Oilers' history. His 15-minutes as a GM were admittedly a mixed-bag (perfect storm disaster being the untimely hiring of Dallas Eakins), but then again he is responsible for the Oilers acquiring Leon Draisaitl, so we should thank him for that!

 

[Kyle McMahon]

MacTavish is remembered primarily for the unique trivia of being the last player to go without a helmet.
I remember seeing him play for the Oilers when I was a kid. But my memory was how he was a PK specialist, defensive forward, and gritty player.
Rewatching a lot of classic hockey lately, and seeing MacTavish I'm a bigger fan than ever. He was every as advertised, but relative to his era, a skilled player. He was 110% hustle all over the ice; and he was a clean player who never took a dumb penalty but played physical. Unlike the expectation for a defensive specialist, he actually carried the puck a tonne, and generated good offense. I think on weaker teams he'd have easily been a #2 centreman.
I remarked on my observations to my dad, and he agreed. Noting that MacTavish was definitely a "dangler" who harkened back to earlier generation of forwards like Keon or H.Richard.

Funny you should say this, I was just noticing the same thing. My memories of MacT as a player amount to the guy on my hockey cards who didn't wear a helmet, who was generally well regarded as a depth guy on the Oilers and Rangers championship teams.

I was legitimately surprised to see that even as late as 1996 in St. Louis, re-watching the Blues-Red Wings game 7, MacT was a factor out there on most shifts. And like you say, more than just a mucker with a good set of wheels. Probably a guy I've subtly underrated over the years.

 

[Nerowoy nora tolad]

Wasn't there also a season in the 80s where players were again allowed to not wear helmets?

They briefly revisited the idea again some time in the early 90s (1993?). Roenick wanted to do it, but was talked out of it by teammates and fellow players

 

[Uncle Rotter]

It gets curiouser and curiouser. Watch at the start of this video, the announcer mentions that Kevin Lowe stopped wearing a helmet at the start of the 1981-82 season.

 

[Michael Farkas]

Hmph, yeah that draft took place in August 1979...no chance he could have signed before June 1, 1979...

 

[cupcrazyman]

I was going to try and avoid mentioning that part of his life between Boston and Edmonton.



I guess he did as a Hab. Can't find a picture of him as a Capital wearing one though up until his retirement. Not sure when he took it off.

Langway was drafted by both Birmingham(WHA) & Montreal in the summer of '77.He signed with Bulls first & played with a helmet.Then signed with Montreal in 78.

Legends of Hockey - Spotlight - One on One with Rod Langway

 

[MS]

It gets curiouser and curiouser. Watch at the start of this video, the announcer mentions that Kevin Lowe stopped wearing a helmet at the start of the 1981-82 season.

This is one of the more fascinating things I’ve ever seen here and goes against everything I’ve come to understand about the helmet rule.

When you look at the Miracle on Manchester highlights from the end of that season, though, Lowe is back wearing a helmet.

Does anyone have any insight on this? Did Lowe just decide to violate the rule for the first half of the season and wasn’t called on it?

 

[Kyle McMahon]

The only thing I can think of - and this is a real stretch - is that the draft age being lowered in 1979 somehow played into this. Lowe was part of the older class of 1979 draft picks. Under the new rules, he'd have been picked (presumably) in 1978. Was there some weird part of the grandfather clause that also allowed "over-age" draft picks from 1979 to be exempt from the helmet rule?

 

[Uncle Rotter]

Lowe is back wearing a helmet by January 16, 1982 (5:00 mark)

 

[scott clam]

It gets curiouser and curiouser. Watch at the start of this video, the announcer mentions that Kevin Lowe stopped wearing a helmet at the start of the 1981-82 season.

Why is Pat Quinn wearing a helm-oh wait, that's his hair.