Tom Pashby

Thomas Joseph Pashby (March 23, 1915 – August 24, 2005) was a Canadian ophthalmologist and sport safety advocate. He spent 46 years improving the safety of hockey helmets to prevent injuries in ice hockey, by developing visors and wire face masks, and advocating for neck protection on goaltender masks. He served two decades as chairman of the Canadian Standards Association (CSA), setting standards for manufacturers of hockey and lacrosse helmets.

Pashby compiled Canadian data on hockey-related spinal cord injuries and visual impairment, while pushing for changes to ice hockey rules to prevent injuries. His work resulted in the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA) making CSA-approved helmets mandatory in 1976, and the National Hockey League requiring helmets for all new players as of 1979. He succeeded in facial protection requirements for amateurs players in Canada, and rule changes against checking from behind enacted by Hockey Canada, USA Hockey, and the International Ice Hockey Federation.

Pashby received multiple awards, including the Ontario Hockey Association Distinguished Service Award, the Gordon Juckes Award from the CAHA, and was named man-of-the-year by The Hockey News in 1990. He was named a member of the Order of Canada in 1981, inducted into the builder category of Canada's Sports Hall of Fame in 2000, and was posthumously inducted into the Leaside Sports Hall of Fame.

Early life Thomas Joseph Pashby was born on March 23, 1915, in Toronto, Ontario. He was the only child of Norman and Florence Pashby, and attended Riverdale Collegiate Institute. He grew up in the Danforth and Pape area, and his family operated a butcher shop in East Danforth. While playing high school football, he recalled losing consciousness due to a concussion, despite feeling fine before falling on his face at the hospital.

Pashby graduated from the University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine in 1940, and received his certificate of registration with the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario on August 22, 1940.

During the 1972–73 season, Pashby reported there were 287 eye injuries in hockey players, including 20 blind eyes. During the 1974–75 season, he reported 258 eye injuries and 43 blinded eyes. He also reported that since 1972, there were 309 players at either the minor, junior or professional hockey levels who had lost eyesight, but that none of them wore a CSA-approved facemask. In 1976, the CAHA mandated that all amateur players were a CSA-approved helmet. He sought to reduce injuries in the game with a four-point plan; for existing rules to be enforced, for players to wear certified protective equipment, for the size of the ice hockey rink to be enlarged to international standards; and for education in prevention of injuries be given to players, coaches, and trainers. He retired as an ophthalmologist on June 1, 2001. He was a long-time coach for baseball and ice hockey teams in Leaside.

Honours and awards

Pashby received the Canadian Standards Association Award of Merit in 1979, and the Ontario Hockey Association Distinguished Service Award in 1980. He received the Jean P. Carriere Award from the Standards Council of Canada in 1988, was one of two inaugural recipients of the Canadian Sport Safety Award from the Canadian Sports Spine and Head Injuries Research Centre in 1989. He was named man-of-the-year by The Hockey News in 1990, in recognition of his work to prevent injuries. He was inducted into the builder category of Canada's Sports Hall of Fame, He was posthumously made one of the inaugural inductees into the Leaside Sports Hall of Fame in 2013.

Legacy and impact The Canadian Press referred to Pashby as, "[hockey]'s foremost safety pioneer for the last half-century". The fund was later chaired by his son,

In 2017, the new ice rink at Leaside Gardens was named the Dr. Tom Pashby Play Safely Rink, following a donation from the Dr. Tom Pashby Sports Safety Fund to promote safety in sport and recreation.