WINNIPEG — If your child plays hockey, this story affects you. A study out of Virginia Tech did extensive testing on 32 different types of helmets and found the majority of hockey helmets aren’t safe.
READ MORE: Full results of Virginia Tech study
“It’s sad because safety of kids should be a priority,” said Khodr Shamseddine, who has a son in the MiniU hockey program at the University of Manitoba. Shamseddine’s son’s helmet ranks two out of five, which is one of the better rankings among those tested.
“I think it’s important that parents become aware of the problem,” said Shamseddine.
Some of the failing helmets were big brand names like Reebok, Bauer and CCM. Cost seemed to have no affect on the safety rankings, some $100 helmets did a better job than helmets priced up to $300.
“There is a tendency to assume that all helmets are created equally and all are going to protect you from a concussion equally but obviously that’s not the case,” said Jon Gurniak, who coaches kids and plays hockey. Gurniak hopes the recent attention on concussions and this new study prompts the makers of the helmets to do a better job.
“As soon as a player gets a concussion, that’s not only affecting their hockey career that could be something that affects them for the rest of their life,” said Gurniak.
Virginia Tech has also ranked football helmets before. They plan to investigate bike, construction and lacrosse helmets in the future.
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