Mandatory by the association?: SCB star Untersander demands hearing protection on the helmet

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If you look closely, you will see: some SCB stars such as Marco Lehmann, Romain Loeffel and Ramon Untersander wear helmets with hearing protection. What was frowned upon a few years ago will now become mandatory if Bern defender Untersander has his way. The 32-year-old has made it his mission to convince teammates to have the hearing protection reinstalled on the helmet.

During a match in Davos, Untersander was elbowed in the head, straight in the ear. “A piece of skin on the earlobe tore. It bled heavily and hurt.” After the match, his colleague Claude-Curdin Paschoud (29) spoke to him about it and emphasized that this would not have happened to him with the hearing protection. The story behind his comment: A direct puck in his ear caused gave him a concussion in 2018, which led to a long history of suffering. Since then, the defender has not played without hearing protection on his helmet.

Paschoud has impressively demonstrated the difference

But it is Paschoud’s statements and arguments that make Untersander reconsider: “The helmets are subjected to quality tests and certified accordingly – with the hearing protection inside. If you loosen them both, it affects the stability.” Paschoud demonstrated this impressively to him and some teammates, which also motivated Lehmann, for example, to take action. “The difference is extreme,” says Untersander.

The father of the family has been playing with the small but important plastic part of the helmet again for about a month. “Nobody noticed, not even my wife.” He emphasizes this because the only reason for most players to remove it is because it doesn’t look cool. “I do not accept this argument. Five or six years ago there might have been one or two statements. But gone are the days when you have to highlight the strong. There is no good reason why you shouldn’t have hearing protection on your helmet.”

That’s why the defender, who has had an odyssey with concussions himself, is motivating his teammates to let equipment manager Beat Gerber bolt them back on and talk to their conscience. He emphasizes: “NHL stars like Sydney Crosby and Patrick Kane have always played with it. You and we are role models. I also don’t remove the hearing protection from my son’s helmet.”

Out of conviction, Untersander went even further. He has already spoken to SCB sporting director Andrew Ebbett about this issue and the possibility that the club could claim to leave the hearing protection on the helmet, which is always supplied that way. The veteran also hopes “that our association will take the step and introduce mandatory regulations, as is the case in Sweden and Finland.” But somehow every player must know what prevention and health mean to him or her.

Source : Blick