Last night's game between the Winnipeg Jets and Chicago Blackhawks came sheer inches from ending in a disastrous injury. <h2>Scheifele And Bedard Collide In A Disastrous Close Call</h2> The contest between the Winnipeg Jets and Chicago Blackhawks was a fairly run of the mill game. The game wasn't high scoring and did not have any crazy goals scored. However, one simple play almost turned to a disaster. Connor Bedard was working his usual magic with the puck in the offensive zone at one point during the game. Mark Scheifele went to defend on Bedard and got his stick into Bedard's skates. This caused Bedard to fall and his legs to go flying. A slow-motion capture of the play shows that Bedard was incredibly close to cutting Scheifele around the neck with his skate blade. <div align='center'><blockquote class='twitter-tweet' data-lang='en'><a href='https://twitter.com/ginohard_/status/1740240112217407796?s=46&fbclid=IwAR0C21syzolO_GKPx3-5Y4TtDtRsHWB0sitfsARukgTlO-o-oLW8wUzjikQ'> </a></blockquote></div> This play is one that fans and media have taken more notice of after the tragic passing of Adam Johnson due to a similar type of play. <h2>Should The NHL Mandate Neck Protection Going Forward?</h2> This play once again sparked the conversation about the need for neck protection in the NHL. On the play in question, neither Scheifele nor Bedard are wearing any kind of neck guard. This leaves them and many other players open to significant risk of life-threatening injury. The NHL has talked about neck protection since Johnson's passing. However, they are unable to mandate such a thing mid-season. As of now, some players have chosen to wear them but many still have not. If the NHL does truly care about the safety of their athletes they will likely institute a mandate. Several leagues around the world already have and there has been no uproar of complaints from players or teams. It is time the NHL steps in and protects the players from themselves.