Leafs Ryan Reaves Turns Heads in AHL Debut After Being Forced to Follow an Unfamiliar Rule

It's been about 15 years since Ryan Reaves, whose story took an interesting turn recently with his demotion to the AHL, has played in the minors.

The last time he was there, which was with the now defunct Peoria Rivermen, visors were not required.

In fact, Reaves has been around long enough that he was one of the last players left in the NHL not to wear a visor, getting grandfathered in along with names like Jamie and Jordie Benn, Ryan O'Reilly, and Zack Bogosian.

However, as he made his debut with the Toronto Marlies on Wednesday, Reaves was no longer subject to the grandfather clause, and was forced to get creative in order to follow, and skirt the rules all at the same time.

Reaves did that by attaching a visor to his helmet, but left it flipped up for the game.

Not everyone was happy about Reaves being able to seemingly get around the AHL regulations, with some wondering whether he was being given special treatment by the league.

Whatever the case, Reaves left the visor up for the game against the Utica Comets, which resulted in a 2-1 loss. So far, there's no word on whether he might face some kind of fine from the league for his actions.

Reaves was placed on waivers in early March by Maple Leafs GM Brad Treliving in order to free up cash and space for the trade deadline.

The 38-year-old veteran was not made available to the media before or after his debut with the Marlies.