
Norwich hockey players put a lot of faith in their helmets to protect against concussions. A report from Virginia Tech scored most helmets poorly on accomplishing that job. Photo by Darwin Carozza
According to a recent independent study conducted by researchers at Virginia Tech, more than a quarter of all hockey helmets on the market are considered unsafe.
In 2011, Virginia Tech did a similar study on football helmets. The ratings were shocking and caused the companies to do an overhaul on their products to make them safer, while one company even went out of business.
“After looking at this study, it is kind of scary and eye-opening to know that a lot of teams I have played for in the past and even including this team, issue helmets with a zero-star rating,” said Tyler Piacentini, a forward on the team and a senior communication major from South Weymouth, Mass.
At Virginia Tech, the helmets were tested on a five-star rating, five being the highest and safest and one being the lowest. Of the 32 helmets that are available for purchase, nine failed to earn a single star. The highest-rated helmet available was a helmet made by Warrior Hockey which earned three stars, while the rest either earned one or two stars. Before the test just one helmet received five stars; soon after the results came out, 12 redesigned helmets were given a grade of five stars.