It nearly ended Steve Yzerman's career, it scared the hell out of Mats Sundin and defenceman Bryan Berard, once a first overall draft pick by the Ottawa Senators, underwent seven surgeries over several months before he was able to step back on the ice.

An eye injury can be one of the most devastating for any athlete. And a stick or puck in the eye can cause an insurmountable amount of damage to hockey players.

But while it's one thing to hear about those types of injuries through national media coverage or see them happen on TV, it's completely another when it hits close to home. That's exactly what happened last month, when well-known Yukoner Joey Mason was on the ice at the Canada Games Centre, for a Whitehorse Recreational Hockey League game with his Cinderwood Canucks.

It all happened so fast, but seemed like an eternity for Mason.

'I was just going to the front of the net and was tripped up,' he explained, in an interview from his home. 'When I fell to the ice, I looked up to see where the puck was and Kirk (Gale, a defenceman on Cinderwood) was just winding up for a slap shot.

'I was in a vulnerable position and didn't have time to protect myself properly. After that, it was just pain. I didn't know whether I had lost an eye or not. I couldn't feel (my eye) because the pain was so bad.'

Understandably, Mason went into a state of shock after being hit by the shot, but he wasn't unconscious. Perhaps it would have been better if he had been knocked out, so he didn't remember every single detail the fear, the pain and the blood.

Teammates immediately rushed to his side and they were joined by the facility attendant at the Games Centre.

Everybody who works as an attendant at the facility has their standard first aid and CPR, and because they carry radios, the attendant at the ice rink was also able to obtain help from a couple of lifeguards at the aquatic centre.

'I could just hear voices at the time, trying to calm me down,' said Mason.

Mason was take to hospital by ambulance, where he was treated and released later that night. He had to go back the next morning for x-rays, but doctors couldn't tell yet how serious the injury was because the swelling was so bad. They did a CT-scan and found out Mason had broken the bottom of his orbital bone in a couple of places. They recommended he see an optometrist, as well as a surgeon.

'The optometrist here couldn't tell how bad it was either, so they decided to fly me to Vancouver. I went and saw a retina specialist and he told me my whole orbital bone was pretty much crushed and my eye had fallen back in the head. My eye was in the wrong place.'

Mason underwent surgery last Friday for about two and a half hours, to repair the damage. They put a silicone plate under his eye, to put it back in place, and now it's just a matter of waiting.

'The stitches are starting to heal, the break is starting to heal, but I still can't see out of (his left eye). I have double vision when both my eyes are open. I'm really not too sure where I stand in my eye's recovery.'

He has an appointment with his family doctor in Whitehorse today and will fly back to Vancouver to see a specialist again next week. He's been told not to put any stress at all on his eye, which means sleeping upright, so he's also had to take time off work.

Mason is also unsure whether or not he'll ever play organized hockey again. It's possible his eye won't heal well enough to allow it, but even if it does, he's not sure how comfortable he'd feel on the ice. The young athlete called the accident the scariest moment of his life.

'What I've gone through ... I really have no will to want to go back anytime soon. I've been in some pretty serious discomfort. Honestly, I probably will eventually go back if I can, but I'm in no hurry.'

It's an age-old debate, which has taken on some new steam as of late visor or no visor. Following his injury, in which he also took a puck to the eye, Yzerman was adamant about the use of visors.

'Sitting in the hospital that night, I really wished I'd been wearing a visor,'' he told the media at the time. 'I played 21 years and never had an eye injury. My cheekbone didn't really hurt at the time. The first thing that went through my mind was, I don't want to lose my eyesight.' I really believe guys should be wearing them. I didn't say that a week ago.'

Mason said if he does end up back in rec league, he will 'for sure' protect himself with a visor, though he doesn't want to become the next advocate for mandatory visor use.

'Quite a few new players are wearing visors (in rec league) since the accident. I know a few people on my team are. But I totally agree with having a say. I can't say I'm going to push people who haven't been wearing them for 10 or 20 years to change.'

Visors are mandatory in both the minor and junior hockey leagues in Canada, and Mason said a lot of senior leagues such as the one his brother joined in Saskatchewan have also made it a new rule. But the rec leagues in Canada haven't followed suit yet.

'Basically, we play under CARHA (the Canadian Adult Recreational Hockey Association) rules,' explained Eric Magnuson, president of the Whitehorse Recreational Hockey League. 'We have the ability to be stricter, but we can't be laxer. So we could implement the rule, but they (CARHA) don't have it as a mandatory rule.

'We'll probably talk about it at the next league meeting, but honestly I don't think there will be the support needed to change it. A lot of guys will say, No thanks.''

Many players feel that visors limit their vision, because they cut down the side angle and are prone to fogging up.

Some people argue that a visor may not have even helped in Mason's situation, because the puck could have slipped underneath it anyway with the way he was lying.

But there are a few, like those who were there to witness the accident, who may not need a new rule to force them to don a visor, now that it's hit close to home. And that could mean one less eye injury, one less hockey player possibly forced off the ice.