How much does it cost?
Sticker shock isn’t uncommon in hockey, especially for goaltenders. Perhaps one of the most shocking prices is that of the lexan throat guard. Perhaps the plan of purveyors of these products is to create a little lump in your throat that makes you think about how important being able to breath properly actually is. This is what often happens when shoppers see the $45 price tag on what appears to be $2 worth of plastic and packaging.

Nonetheless, as pricey as this bit of plastic might seem, it is well worth the price. Um, at least it’s worth the price if you don’t have the ability to just make your own neck protector from bullet-proof lexan. I, like most people, lack the experience, tools and materials to do such a thing in my garage workshop.

What does it do?
It keeps goalies from getting hit in the throat by a puck. Perhaps you should read the name of the product again. Throat Protector–geez, this should be self evident.

Um, but how does it work?
Well, it attaches to the cage on the goalie’s mask and dangles in front of his neck. The puck hits the lexan instead of skin. It is much more pleasant this way to stop a puck shot in the general vicinity of your neck.

The IT102NP is essentially just a curved piece of Lexan. Its weight and the curvature of the piece deflect the brunt of the puck’s force away from the goalie’s neck. This isn’t to be confused with the bib style neck protectors that can be worn in addition to the IT102NP. The tight fitting bib style neck protectors are designed to keep the goalie’s neck from being cut by a stick or skate. They might slightly lessen the impact of a puck, but this is not their purpose.

I played with only the bib-style neck protection when I first took up goaltending. I wasn’t able to find a polycarbonate neck protector and figured that the padded Kevlar one would serve the same purpose. While it was fun to let people with sharp skates stand on my neck to prove they couldn’t cut me through it, there were a couple of rather brutal impacts that made me rethink how hard I needed to look for a lexan throat protector. I ordered an IT102NP after a couple of months of goaltending without adequate protection.

What’s the best way to attach one of these?
I’ve seen some guys put theirs on with skate laces. However, since I am even more vain than the average goalie, I prefer to use a short piece of nylon cord instead. I’ve tried micro bungee which worked pretty well also. Generally I will pick up a pair of round shoe or boot laces these days though.

Simply tie the laces through your helmet cage and the throat protector. Adjust them to the desired length and viola, you have a protected neck. A properly adjusted protector should dangle loosely hanging below the actual mask. It should overlap slightly, but be low enough to cover the exposed neck below the chin of the mask.

Are there any downsides to using one?
Almost everything has a downside, however, I don’t think there is anywhere near enough downside to consider not wearing one. Getting hit in the neck not only sucks, it’s potentially deadly. Nonetheless, there are a few annoyances you should expect.

While downward vision isn’t particularly good in a goalie helmet anyway, it gets a little worse with a throat protector. Despite being clear, they aren’t exactly optically perfect (especially since you end up looking through them at a rather oblique angle). Expect pucks in your feet to be a little harder to find.

They aren’t all that comfortable. Remember how Patrick Roy always looked like he was suffering from Tourette Syndrom in net, talking to himself and violently shaking his head. I was pretty sure that it was annoyance with the way his neck protector was sitting when I first started playing with one. I spent a lot of time swearing at mine and shaking my head to try to get it back in a comfortable position.

Eventually I switched away from the micro-bungee as a way to connect the throat guard and fastened it a bit closer to the helmet. This proved to be more comfortable. I hardly notice that it is there now. (I’ve also had five years to get used to it now).

The last downside is that the chords connecting the mask do incessantly rub on the helmet. If you have an expensive paint job they will wear off areas of the paint given enough time. It typically takes about a year of heavy play for mine to mar the paint significantly, but it happens. If you’re all that worried about your paintjob, you probably should just stick your helmet on a shelf somewhere. Pucks aren’t the greatest thing for paint jobs either.

Protection
Once in a while a puck will hit just the wrong spot and the bottom edge of the throat guard will hit my neck. Enough of the energy is diffused that it isn’t terribly painful. Further, it is much less detrimental to my well being than the puck striking me would have been. In all, there is a significant increase in the level of protection to the neck.

Durability
The IT102NP is made from lexan. This is a nearly unbreakable polycarbonate which is also used in player facial protection. One of the innovators of the polycarbonate shield claims that you can shoot one point blank with a .38 caliber handgun and the bullet will not penetrate. I quote, “It will put a hell of a dent in it, but the slug will not penetrate the shield.”

I have seen one case of a polycarbonate shield cracking, but this was apparently a defect in manufacturing. I have also seen one polycarbonate neck guard which broke in half. However, this was one out of a hundred or better.

The two that I own (I used to rotate between two different helmets when playing every day—wet helmets suck) are both over two years old and going strong. Neither of them is quite transparent anymore due to the considerable number of mars from pucks striking them. But there is little doubt in my mind that they are ready to stop a great number of pucks still.

Parting Thoughts
The Itech IT102NP is one of the two that I’ve used, and is perhaps a little better than some of the generic brands that are out there. Still, it’s hard to say that one piece of lexan is much better than another.

The main thing is that if you’re going to play goalie without one, you are playing Russian Roulette with your neck. You will eventually get nailed by a puck there and it will hurt badly at the least or even cause a severe injury. I no longer play with a Kevlar neck guard since the likely hood of getting a stick or skate on the neck is so much lower than that of being hit by the puck. I wouldn’t play ever without a lexan throat guard again.


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