Devils News
Devils GM Intends to Introduce New Mandate for Players
After sharing an emotional story about his son, Casey, Tom Fitzgerald plans to mandate Devils players to wear cut-resistant gear.
At the NHL GM Meetings that are taking place in Florida this week, New Jersey Devils general manager Tom Fitzgerald shares a personal story that made him and the room emotional. As a result of Fitzgerald’s experience, he plans to introduce a new mandate to his players in New Jersey.
Fitzgerald shared a story about how his son, Casey Fitzgerald, was the victim of a scary injury—a cut to his neck from a skate blade—while playing in the American Hockey League.
Much like how visors became a new fixture to hockey players’ equipment in the NHL, Tom Fitzgerald hopes to see cut-resistant gear become a new fixture not just in the NHL, but in hockey at all levels.
“I think he was choked up afterward talking to a lot of us about it,” Pierre LeBrun stated, sitting in on the NHLs GM Meetings as a by standing journalist.
According to LeBrun, fellow NHL GMs sympathize with Fitzgerald and are even in favor of his desire. As a member of the NHLs equipment committee in addition to his duties as Devils GM and a father, he’s spearheading the push for cut-resistant gear in hockey.
“He had a message to share. And it’s not really a room that needs convincing, but it reinforces the message that the league has got to get to a place where players are wearing neck guards, and it’s not just a hockey father and a GM, but also someone who sits on the cut resistant equipment committee for the NHL since last year. So really a trifecta in terms of how this has affected Tom Fitzgerald and how he feels passionately about this issue.”
The NHL and NHLPA have had these discussions before. When Adam Johnson was fatally cut by a skate blade last season, neck guards and cut-resistant gear became a topic of focus in the hockey world.
However, the consensus among NHL players was that despite the tragic situation, the rarity that it would happen again was enough for most to go on without the extra gear.
Yet, players like T.J. Oshie—owner of Warroad Hockey Co., makers of cut-resistant gear—continue to advocate for more protection for players.
Regardless of the NHLPAs previous resistance to agree to a league-wide mandate for neck guards and cut-resistant gear, Fitzgerald intends to make it mandatory in New Jersey.
“The final point I’ll make on that is that he said he knows that the NHLPA won’t be happy about this, but he’s let the NHLPA know he intends to mandate it on his own team in New Jersey. He wants his players wearing that guards,” LeBrun concluded.
As Chris Johnston pointed out after LeBrun, there are ongoing discussions about the NHLs next collective bargaining agreement. One of the topics at hand is, in fact, more protective gear for players. Therefore, Fitzgerald may intend to mandate more protective gear for Jack Hughes, Nico Hischier, and Co. in New Jersey. However, the entire league may be under the same mandate, and it could be as soon as next season.
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