Meet The Last Red Wings Player Who Refused To Wear A Helmet

Safety in sports is paramount, especially today. In sports like hockey and football, players move fast and slam into each other or into the ground, so they wear thick pads to protect their bodies. For as long as one can remember, helmets and pads have been crucial to player safety, vital in helping sustain long careers in their respective sports

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As the years went by, players wore more and more pads, but in hockey, helmets weren't mandatory until 1979...for new players. This was an interesting caveat, as players who had contracts before this rule was enacted had a "Grandfather Clause" that made it so the NHL couldn't force them to wear a helmet - so some players didn't.

Detroit Red Wings vs Los Angeles Kings

Some players, who were either very brave or very reckless, continued not to wear a helmet well into the 1990s, over a decade after the ruling. Toward the end of their careers, they shared the ice with mostly helmet-wearing players, and someone out there meticulously cataloged the last player on each team who didn't wear a helmet.

The Red Wings' Last Helmetless Player: Brad Marsh

Acclaimed Canadian star Brad Marsh has a long NHL career, spanning over 1000 games from 1973 to 1993, and is best known for his time with the Philadelphia Flyers as a star defenseman.

READ MORE: 73 Years Ago, The Championship Red Wings Were All Sent To Prison

As the Red Wings entered their Russian Five era, Ben Marsh was in the twilight of his career and joined Detroit in 1990. He entered Detroit as the second-oldest player on the team, but the only one who refused to wear a helmet. While in Detroit, he reached his 1,000th NHL game, wearing a helmet for only one season. 

Although his final season wasn't with the Red Wings, his time there was enough to make him the latest helmetless Red Wing. According to The Hockey News, the reason Marsh refused to wear a helmet harkened back to the heroes he watched skate growing up:

 “In the Marsh household, we grew up watching the Maple Leafs, and I wanted to be like Allan Stanley, Bobby Baun, Tim Horton, any defenseman from that era. So, I didn’t wear a helmet.”

How Dangerous Was This?

So, without a helmet, what did his injury record look like? Well, he famously cracked his head open after a sandwich hit by Cam Neely and Ray Bourque. This incident was enough to encourage other helmetless players to start wearing one.

Brad Marsh, in 1992. / Getty Images

Despite this, Marsh was back five games later, notably with a helmet on to cover his head, which was full of stitches, after suffering a severe concussion. It was one of the only times he used a helmet, but once he was cleared to take it off, he did.

Marsh was lucky, though. Bill Masterton of the Minnesota North Stars was a helmetless player who experienced brain damage so severe that he never regained consciousness.

Steve Yzerman of the Detroit Red Wings, winner of the 2002-03 Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy. / Getty Images

By 1992, only 6 players in the league still played without a helmet, and when Marsh retired in 1993 after a final season with the Ottawa Senators, only one player (Craig MacTavish) outlasted him. MacTavish nearly reached the turn of the century before retiring in 1996, three years after Marsh.