![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/indicator-big.gif\")
<\/p>\n\u201cLike 14 guys without a helmet,\u201d recalled Dubois, now a centre with the Washington Capitals. \u201cI was like, \u2018This is so intimidating.\u2019 I\u2019m 19 years old and they\u2019ve won (titles), they\u2019re huge, they have no helmets, no teeth, so scary. <\/p>\n
\t<\/p>\n
\u201cI remember thinking, \u2018Wow, that\u2019d be really cool to do one day.’\u201d<\/p>\n
Helmets \u2014 or buckets \u2014 off in warm-ups remains a unique part daily life for many NHLers despite the league instituting a rule that states anyone not in the league before the 2019-20 season must don the protective gear pre-game.<\/p>\n
Players making their debuts are still allowed to take them off for the \u201crookie lap\u201d initiation before putting the equipment back on, but there remains plenty of athletes leaving helmets in the locker room.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a few hidden gems in the NHL,\u201d San Jose Sharks winger Tyler Toffoli said. \u201cNo helmet in warm-up is in the top-3.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tampa Bay Lightning forward Corey Perry has played 21 seasons, mostly without a helmet in warm-up. There have been close calls and scary moments \u2014 including off his own stick \u2014 as pucks rattle glass and chime posts.<\/p>\n
\u201cI hit myself,\u201d he said. \u201cOff the crossbar and cut my eyebrow open.\u201d <\/p>\n
The NHL issued a memo earlier this season after a few teams had ineligible players go without helmets pre-game. <\/p>\n
Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman Morgan Rielly used to be mesmerized by the ritual going to Vancouver Canucks games as a kid.<\/p>\n
\u201cI remember seeing Markus Naslund out there with no helmet,\u201d he said. \u201cI thought that was the coolest thing.\u201d <\/p>\n
Toronto, like Columbus when Dubois entered the league, had an internal team policy that forced players to wear helmets in warm-ups under past management regimes. <\/p>\n
The directive now loosened, Rielly, William Nylander, Max Domi and Jake McCabe are among the players sans head garb when the Maple Leafs hit the ice about 30 minutes before puck drop.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn a tough stretch everyone\u2019s talking about confidence this, confidence that,\u201d Rielly said. \u201cSo we said, \u2018Screw it, let\u2019s start.’\u201d<\/p>\n
But just because a player entered the league back when helmets could be removed didn\u2019t mean it was allowed.<\/p>\n
Toffoli got to take his off when he hit 100 games with the Kings after veterans let him know it was time.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the first things I wanted to do was warm-ups with no helmet,\u201d he recalled. \u201c(Former teammate) Jarret Stoll gave me some Dippity Do gel to throw in my hair.\u201d<\/p>\n
Added Perry: \u201cBack in the day if you took your helmet off, you knew you\u2019d done something right.\u201d<\/p>\n
Anaheim Ducks rookie Beckett Sennecke got to take his off just once.<\/p>\n
\u201cPretty cool feeling,\u201d the forward said of that initial lap. \u201cWish that was still a rule.\u201d<\/p>\n
Los Angeles defenceman Drew Doughty said his group wasn\u2019t allowed to remove them in warm-ups until after capturing their first Cup in 2012.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe started winning and basically our entire team was no buckets,\u201d he said. \u201cMaybe we should go to buckets on until we win again \u2026 but you seem cool if you have no bucket.\u201d<\/p>\n
Maple Leafs centre John Tavares, who did warm-ups without a helmet earlier in his career, said there\u2019s a tradition element.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe league has been around for over 100 years,\u201d he said. \u201cA little bit of getting to play in the NHL, the uniqueness of that.\u201d <\/p>\n
There have also been serious injuries, including Taylor Hall falling and getting stepped on when he was with the Edmonton Oilers, resulting in a nasty row of stitches across his forehead in 2012.<\/p>\n
Self-preservation without a helmet is key.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have to think of warm-ups different,\u201d Tampa Bay Lightning centre Nick Paul said. \u201cYou\u2019re always watching, listening for shots off posts and crossbars. I\u2019ve ducked a couple. You never go below the goal line. And when you\u2019re shooting, you see a guy with no helmet, you know not to rip it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The risk, however, remains worth it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel alive and awake,\u201d said Dubois, who doesn\u2019t have a set helmet routine. \u201cYou always have to be on the lookout, but it\u2019s scary at times.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd my parents would like for me not to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n
DOWN THE STRETCH<\/p>\n
The race for the final Eastern Conference wild-card berth looks set to go down to the wire. <\/p>\n
Columbus currently occupies the spot with 88 points and seven games left. Ottawa, Detroit and Philadelphia all sit with 86 points and eight contests remaining. Washington, meanwhile, is still in the mix with 85 points and seven dates still on the schedule.<\/p>\n
BENCH TURNOVER<\/p>\n
The Vegas Golden Knights\u2019 decision to fire head coach Bruce Cassidy and replace him with John Tortorella this week once again demonstrated that career path\u2019s volatility.<\/p>\n
Just eight NHL teams have the same coach as at the start of 2023-24 \u2014 Ryan Huska (Calgary), Rod Brind\u2019Amour (Carolina), Jared Bednar (Colorado), Paul Maurice (Florida), Martin St. Louis (Montreal), Andrew Brunette (Nashville), Jon Cooper (Tampa Bay) and Spencer Carbery (Washington).<\/p>\n
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 1, 2026.<\/p>\n
Joshua Clipperton, The Canadian Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cLike 14 guys without a helmet,\u201d recalled Dubois, now a centre with the Washington Capitals. \u201cI was like,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":575983,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[433],"tags":[879,49,48,2467,2461,2468,2460,2462,2463,44,448,2464,2465,2466,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-575982","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nhl","8":"tag-breaking-news","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-canada","11":"tag-central-vancouver-island","12":"tag-nanaimo","13":"tag-nanaimo-breaking-news","14":"tag-nanaimo-news","15":"tag-nanaimo-news-now","16":"tag-nanaimonewsnow","17":"tag-news","18":"tag-nhl","19":"tag-oceanside","20":"tag-parksville","21":"tag-qualicum","22":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/575982","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=575982"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/575982\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/575983"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=575982"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=575982"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=575982"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}