Don Cherry was right when he claimed mostly French-Canadian and European NHL players wear hockey visors, says a Winnipeg lawyer who crunched the numbers.

Curtis Unfried told CBC Newsworld on Wednesday that his investigation of data showed 59 per cent of European players wear visors, followed by 55 per cent of French-Canadian players.

Among North American players born outside of Quebec, only 20 per cent wear face shields to guard against injury.




"At the end of the day, when you boil it down to [Cherry's] one particular sound bite... the numbers speak for themselves and clearly show what he did say is correct," Unfried said.

Unfried said his research consisted of getting the rosters of all NHL teams, then going on the internet to confirm the players' places of birth and whether they wear visors.

Cherry, the colourful hockey commentator on CBC's Hockey Night in Canada, came under fire for comments he made during a broadcast on Jan. 24.

During the first period intermission, Cherry dismissed talk of the need for all players to wear visors on their helmets, saying "most of the guys that wear them are Europeans or French guys."

The remark was roundly criticized by French-language groups across the country.

Unfried said he was surprised by the results of his research, especially the finding that only 35 per cent of all NHL players wear visors.

The lawyer said he was prompted to launch the study because "curiosity got the best of me.

"And much to my wife's chagrin, I sat and went through and decided to crunch the numbers."