The hockey world has been rocked by the tragic passing of Adam Johnson, and now, players are clearly trying to take steps in protecting themselves going forward. <h2>New protection sweeping the league</h2> <div align='center' style='padding-top:20px;padding-bottom:20px;'><img src='https://i.marqueur.com/habsetlnh/i/photo/332790.webp' width='100%' border='0' alt='image' loading='lazy' defer /></div> While neck guards won't be able to 100% stop the events that we saw in England, they are certainly going to increase player safety, and now, players around the world are leaning into it. We've already seen Rasmus Dahlin and several Winnipeg Jets wearing the new neck guards, and now, reigning Norris Trophy winner Erik Karlsson has joined the movement. <h2>Calling out players</h2> Unfortunately, that's still not many players, and given the solid aesthetic and protection the guards provide, Karlsson is now calling out players who aren't yet on board. <q>Just trying it out, it is available for us. I don't think it is a bad thing, and I'll probably try it out for a bit and see if I can get accustomed to it and go from there. The magnitude of the situation that unfortunately happened puts a lot of things in perspective. We all have families and friends - we do this because we love to do this and we get paid well to do it and stuff like that... At the end of the day, we do it 'cause it's a choice... I don't think anyone would keep doing it if it meant risking your life every day going out there. If you can wear a small piece of equipment to hopefully prevent something like that again, I think that's a win... We're going to try it out like I said for the foreseeable future and see if I can wear it regularly, I hope I can - and I hope more and more guys try to do the same at least.</q> <div align='center'><blockquote class='twitter-tweet' data-lang='en'><a href='https://twitter.com/penguins/status/1720132192842445136?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1720132396035535043%7Ctwgr%5Ec2e09e771aa86318aca8128998654e36c1bc2c9d%7Ctwcon%5Es2_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.markerzone.com%2Fnews%2FErik20Karlsson20Calls20Out20Other20NHL20Stars20for20Not20Wearing20a20Neck20Guard'> </a></blockquote></div> Ultimately, most players around the league may not adapt to the guards until the NHL mandates it, if that happens, but it's clear that Karlsson and others are wise to encourage their fellow players to get on board. As Read on MarkerZone - <a href='https://www.markerzone.com/news/index.php?no=295053&fbclid=IwAR30MFt9t2gN5fD6350VVznDQGGcN80MwPDkxQw0o7EeR7dFF-s9Yeh--AI' class='lien_marqueur' target='_blank' rel='noopener'>Erik Karlsson Calls Out Other NHL Stars for Not Wearing a Neck Guard</a>