Hockey close call v2

Well... I survived another close call Tuesday night in hockey. It's the second time in about six months that I've been struck by the puck next to or near the eye. (The same eye in fact!) The first time, It was above the eye on the ridge where my eyebrow grows. I had a big shiner for about weeks or so... But I didn't switch to a cage or shield, since it was such a fluky thing. I never wore a face shield when I first played hockey, and trying to wear one now is extremely inconvenience. After all, I've only been hit in the face by the puck relatively a few times in my whole life... and I've been playing for ten years. Yet, it happened again this week, and this time, it was a lot more serious.

I was playing defense, as a forward rushed with the puck advancing into the zone on my right. I leaned forward with my stick while skating backwards to cut off and block any shot or passing lane, and the forward attempted to deke a little, and then shot the puck, but the deke move he made put the puck on "edge", causing the puck to spring upwards on his shot (like a golf ball) rather than staying low and on target. It went straight to my face, and It was one of those split second things that you see happening, but because you're out of position, you can't do anything about it. I tried to duck/look away, but it was too late, it nailed me right in the eye. I dropped my gloves and went down immediately clutching my left eye/face and laid on the ice face down for a minute as I rode the "sting" of the shot. I had my eyes closed tightly because of the pain, and in the back of my head, I wondered if this was really it, because I was feeling really intense pain, and my hands felt wet and hot. Eventually, I opened my good eye to see if there was any blood. Boy... there was blood alright, and lots of it! I tried to open my left eye carefully, but I couldn't because of all the blood. Players huddled around me as they tried to assist me, and some were horrified by the sight of blood all over my face, hand, and ice. Quickly, we went off the ice to attend the wound and determine the extent of damage. With water, we cleaned my face and hands and eventually found the cause for the blood, a clean cut under my left eye. Once the bleeding was controlled, we bandaged it and put ice on it. I realized then that it although it was serious close call, I didn't need any EMT or ambulances. I then resumed to my normal end game routine of changing out of my equipment, putting on my street clothes, collecting money for the ice time, and paying the rink before driving myself to the ER to get stitches. Everyone wanted to help me, and I appreciated their concern, but I figured once we got the bleeding controlled, and since it was a clean cut, I could handle it from there.

Total damage... 7 stitches, and eventual scar under the eye. I also have some loose teeth on my top left side, and it still hurts. I have to thank my mouth guard for letting me keep my teeth, because I'm certain they would of been gone otherwise.

So.. now I'm in the market of a high quality face shield... something that doesn't distort vision or fog up. My mother and uncle insist on paying for it, so there is no excuse anymore I suppose. As much as I hate a cage/shield, I'd rather be able to see out of two eyes than just one.