PORTLAND (AP) – The American Hockey League, which lost a player from the Portland Pirates due to an eye injury this year, became the second minor hockey league to require face protection for all players on Wednesday.

Meeting in Hilton Head, S.C., the league’s Board of Governors voted overwhelmingly to require face protection, which is already mandatory in the East Coast Hockey League. Face protection also is required for all college hockey players.

The injury to Portland defenseman Jordan Smith provided the impetus for players and owners to come to together to reach an agreement, officials said.

“The safety of our world-class athletes remains a top priority, and after lengthy discussions with the Professional Hockey Players’ Association and medical experts, there is no doubt in our minds that this is necessary and the right thing to do,” David Andrews, the AHL’s president and CEO, said in a statement.

An errant puck ended Smith’s dreams of playing in the National Hockey League in late February.

The deflected puck hit him in the eye in a game against the Manchester Monarchs. The injury was so severe that his eye had to be removed, and he now has a prosthesis.

Smith, who was not wearing a visor when the puck broke the orbital bone and damaged his eye, required emergency surgery.

He can still play with one eye in the AHL or in Europe. Another option for him is to pursue his long-term goal of coaching.

Reached at his home in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Smith said Wednesday that he was pleased with the league’s actions, but he admitted some players might not be happy.

“The bottom line is it’s a good idea. If it minimizes some serious injuries, who knows if it saves one guy, then it’s worth it,” he said. “It’s definitely a good idea. It’s common sense. And it’s a very smart thing to do.”

Portland Pirates owner Brian Petrovek said he took up the cause after Jordan’s injury.

“Obviously with the tragedy that we all experienced with Jordan Smith’s catastrophic injury, we took the initiative with the league to do everything we could to eliminate the possibility of this happening to any player,” he said.

Smith, who was selected by the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim in the second round of the 2004 draft, acknowledges he didn’t give much thought to wearing face protection before his accident.

“The type of player I am, you look at the NHL teams and you see a familiar trend that the hard-nosed guys, your blue-collar working guys, they usually don’t wear visors,” he said.

“I didn’t think about it. I just went out there and gave it my all every night.”

Petrovek said he originally hoped that the new rules would apply to incoming players, much like the NHL did when it first required helmets. Instead, the governors voted to require full face protection – either a mask or visor – for all players.

“Sometimes it takes a situation like what happened to Jordan to get everyone’s attention,” he said. “If we chose not to act, we were willing to get another Jordan smith incident happen.”

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American Hockey League http://www.theahl.com/

Portland Pirates http://www.portlandpirates.com/

AP-ES-06-28-06 1808EDT