I thought hockey was a much better game when players did not have to wear helmets. It was certainly a more wide-open style of play and marquee players like Bobby Orr, Phil Esposito, Bobby Clarke, Guy LaFleur, were much more recognizable on the ice without helmets.
Injuries did occur due to no helmets but only a handful of very serious ones that I remember (and serious injuries still happen today). Also, not having helmets on the ice tend to increase one's situational awareness and vision on the ice (players from the helmetless era have corroborated this).
Oh, gosh yes! I’ll always remember Sunday afternoon hockey games and marveling at the speed of The Roadrunner—Yvan Cournoyer.
Remember when Barry Ashby took a puck to his eye..
Old Time Hockey!
Agreed completely. There might have been the intent to make the game safer by bringing in the helmets in order to prevent head injuries from errant sticks or pucks or bad, awkward falls, but the players became that much more careless and deliberate with their behaviour and that in turn arising from that sense of invincibility that the helmets (and now the visors) gave.
You are now seeing that many former players who wore helmets voluntarily or under the 1979 grandfathering law and now suffer from problems related to all those blows they took to the head area due to high sticks and hits from behind and other related things.
True...I seem to recall (and I could be mistaken) that Denis Potvin was one of the first stars I remember seeing wearing a helmet. (I thought it looked odd on him, as if it weren’t fitted correctly)
I liked watching Rick Middleton, with his long hair yet a bit balding on top, rushing down the ice with his hair following him!
Boy, hockey sure has gone through a transformation. I guess all sports have.