Protection

Umm. It was as part of a discussion for the new NAH ruleset (Adam and Pete though, so NY and Portland mentioned the ice hockey thing), here's where the ruling's at (for now):

1. High Sticking
   
   1. A high sticking penalty will be assessed in the following situations:
      
   2. the ball is played above the top of the handlebars with the mallet
      
   3. the mallet is brought into contact with an opposing player’s body above the level of the handlebars
      
   4. at the referee’s discretion, a high-stick to the body will result in a minor or a major penalty, depending on severity. particularly reckless or violent violations of this rule may result in a game misconduct and/or a match penalty.
      
      

My stance was that they should be prepared for "crazy swings" in the near future and that we may have to go with mandatory face cages (if the problem spreads like it has in Europe). They also play a more spread out game (larger courts) in NA which may help?

I stand by the thought that high swinging is a bigger problem in Europe than in NA, no personal experience as you point out, so could be wrong.

What came first: The face cage, or the high swing?