Jack Parker of Boston U. says the plastic mask limits views from the side. We have people in wheelchairs, and that's because of the masks. Yet the face masks remain because no one wants to go back to the days when hockey players were distinguished by facial scars and lack of teeth. High sticking amounts to waving the sticks near opponents' faces. Holden and other NCAA supervisors constantly urge their referees to assess penalties for high sticking and for checking from behind, too.
Some referees do more often than others.
If they call too many penalties, the referees will say, then the coaches get angry and give them bad marks in their reviews. At Milwaukee, members of the Dartmouth College and Michigan teams in the first championship game were back to help celebrate this 50th one. Some wince at the big hits in the semifinal match between Boston U. and Michigan. Cleary, who was voted to the 50th anniversary all-time team, is often outspoken about the turn his favorite sport has taken. Ken Hanson of Colorado Springs, a former college player and now a junior team coach, says he believes there were more than a dozen concussions this season in a program of about 250 players.