Goalie eye wear

So Jaroslav Halak gets poked near the eye at practice Monday and most people must be thinking, "How often does that happen?"

Well, would you believe twice in the span of five days?

Check out this photo of Minnesota Wild goaltender Josh Harding from an exhibition game against the Buffalo Sabres last week, found courtesy of Russo's Rants, the excellent blog written by Minneapolis Star Tribune hockey writer Michael Russo.

Harding scratched his cornea on the play and should be fine. He's pretty lucky, as is Halak, who was hit just under the eye by an errant stick at practice Monday but was back on the ice before the skate was even over.

Seeing things like this happen makes you wonder (or at least it makes me wonder) why goalie masks are made with holes big enough for a stick blade to fit through it. I know it's for clear sight lines, but when you consider how many players are whacking at pucks in the air right around the crease it's pretty incredible this doesn't happen more often.

I'm not sure how clear the sight lines are when you can barely open your eye.