All eyes will be on Kevin Bieksa’s eyes Tuesday night at Pepsi Center.
The Vancouver Canucks’ top-four defenceman was struck by a puck in the eye Sunday night but is expected to be in the visiting team’s lineup when they face the Colorado Avalanche.
Bieksa, 33, wore a visor during the game-day skate with the club but would not reveal if he would use it in game action.
“Whether or not I wear a visor is a personal decision and a family decision. It’s not something I’m going to sit here and debate in public,” Bieksa told reporters in Denver after the skate.
The Grimsby, Ont., native did wear a visor while representing Canada at the world championships last spring, but has declined the extra protection in his NHL career.
“There’s a difference,” he said of playing through the Plexiglas, “but if it were mandatory, I can wear it no problem.”
Canucks fans let out a collective gasp Sunday when a battle behind the net resulted in the puck squirting upwards into Bieksa’s face.
“When it hits you anywhere around the eye, there’s concern right away,” Bieksa said. “I’m pretty sure it hit my eyeball, but who knows? It’s not really important anymore.”
Bieksa said when he left Sunday’s game at Rogers Arena he thought he might just need stitches. Realizing he wasn’t cut, he figured he’d return to the game. Instead, he suffered some “blurriness” and was seen leaving the rink with a doctor and a towel pressed to his right eye.
Visors will gradually become a mandatory piece of NHL equipment. As of June 2013, that rule started being grandfathered in.
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