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A once optional piece of hockey equipment will now be mandatory for most Junior hockey players in Nova Scotia.

Starting this upcoming season, Junior B and Junior C players will have to wear full-face protection – whether that’s by the way of a shield or mask.

A player who suffered a potentially life-threatening injury last December when the upper part of his neck was slashed open by a skate says he’s confident the new mandatory equipment will help increase player safety.

Bailey Fraser, a Junior B player with the Brookfield Elks, was able to receive emergency treatment within seconds of his injury and has completed a full recovery.

“It can prevent a lot of injuries from happening from like high sticks and stuff and it probably would have prevented my skate injury. It will protect players from getting high sticks to the face and getting pucks to the face too,” he said.

The change was sparked by Hockey Canada and is now being propelled forward by Hockey Nova Scotia.

“Hockey Canada has mandated full facial protection for Junior “B” and below. Research studies shows the increased risk of injury due to the half-visor. So, from 2014 to 2018, it showed that individuals wearing a half-visor had 20 times the number of injuries compared to full-facial protection,” said Amy Walsh, the executive director of Hockey Nova Scotia.

Hockey Canada is mandating all leagues across the country bring in the full-face protection rule by 2020.

However, as a way to encourage provincial hockey organizations to move forward with the change this year, incentives were provided including some financial assistance with the equipment costs.

“[$1,000] per team to purchase full facial protection and help offset the cost. It’s also important to note that the insurance rates will decrease tremendously from $45 to $10 per player. So, what that means is it will be more affordable for players to play and most importantly more safety,” Walsh said.

Junior A players still have the choice of wearing half-visors instead of full-shields.

According to Walsh, that league governs itself by a different set of rules.

“The partnership agreement with Junior A, it gives them the full say of the rules and regulations. So, right now it’s just going to be Junior B and below but perhaps we’ll see the increase in safety and watch what happens in these leagues,” she said.

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