BLOG: Kassian seeing clear through full face shield

EDMONTON, AB - Forward Zack Kassian is going to have to live with a new dimple in his right cheek that now shows when he cracks one of his trademark smiles.
Broken orbital bones sustained from taking a puck to the face against the Chicago Blackhawks on Feb. 9 have left a small centimetre depression under his right eye that the 31-year-old could've had cosmetic surgery to repair, but he doesn't consider himself one for looks.
"They left it up to me. It was a cosmetic thing, but I told them I had a face for radio as it was, so I wasn't getting any prettier," he said with a smile.
Kassian went down the tunnel to the Oilers dressing room after a deflected puck came up high and struck the orbital area under his right eye. Kassian came back to the bench, but despite there being no blood from the incident, the swelling soon took over and made it too difficult for the winger to proceed in the game.
The X-rays taken following the final buzzer quickly revealed a few breaks, and Kassian would miss nearly a month of action before returning to the lineup on Wednesday night against the Washington Capitals sporting a full face shield.

Kassian can't recall ever taking a puck or stick to the face over the 15 years of his amateur and professional career dating back to his first season with the OHL's Peterborough Petes in 2007, nor can he remember the last time he wore any kind of visor on his helmet as one of only a handful of current NHLers that opt to wear nothing but the helmet on their head with no other form of protection.
"I haven't worn anything over my face in 15 or 16 years, so that was a little bit of an adjustment period, but you got to do what you got to do to play and I'll have to wear that for a week or so," he said.
When faced with the inevitable choice of having to use a cage or a bubble, Kassian took some advice from his captain Connor McDavid to go with the full-face visor to keep his eyes relaxed and vision clear of any metal wiring that comes with wearing a cage.

"I don't find the bubble that bad," he said. "I've never worn the bubble before, but Connor mentioned it. I liked it a lot better than the cage.
"The wiring I found was a little hard on the eyes, but it is what it is. In an ideal world I would take it off right now, but obviously, there are precautionary reasons you have to consider. I have to wear it in order to play, and obviously I want to play, so I have to deal with it."
His Oilers teammates and fans alike were pleased his vision wasn't clouded midway through the third period of Wednesday's win when the Windsor, ON product dished a beautiful backhand pass from behind the Capitals net onto the stick of Brad Malone, who roofed his first NHL goal in six years over the shoulder of Ilya Samsonov to make it a 3-2 game.
Kassian combined with Malone for a big tally from Edmonton's depth scoring, and the goal provided the bench and Rogers Place with a massive jolt of energy.

"It's one thing with Connor and Leon, they score every night it seems like, but you get a guy like Bugsy who comes up and hasn't played in the NHL for a while," Kassian said. "He's a hard worker and kind of an old-school type player, so for him to get a goal, I know everyone on the bench was fired up for him. It's nice to see.
"It's definitely different than a high-end, super-skill guy scoring. I think it adds a whole different level of energy to our team."
Helping provide of those secondary contributions is what Kassian is set on doing over the final 24 games of the season, with healthy production from the bottom-six forwards being critical to Edmonton's push for a playoff spot.
"It's huge. I've said many times that whenever the bottom six can chip in with goals, it just gives everybody energy," he said. "Obviously Connor and Leon get leaned on heavily to produce, and they do produce most nights, but for the bottom-six guys to chip in goals here and there, it just helps you win.
"If we can continue to do that, and then have the big guys go at the rate their going, it just makes us a better team."