Head knocks weigh on NHL general managers

Pittsburgh-Tribune Review ^ | March 14, 2011 | Rob Rossi

[airborne]

Sidney Crosby's concussion is causing a headache for the Penguins on the ice and the National Hockey League off it.

Nobody knows when Crosby might play hockey again, and continued speculation about his health is as frustrating to the team as it is confusing to fans.

---(snip)---

Head injuries will be a major topic during three days of meetings by the league's 30 general managers starting today in Boca Raton, Fla. -- and not just because Crosby, widely regarded as the face of the NHL, has cast a spotlight on the subject.

---(snip)---

Taking a toll

According to The Concussion Blog, a website devoted to head injuries in professional sports, 72 NHL players reportedly have been diagnosed with a concussion this season. Here are some of the notable players and their status or recovery time:

Player - Team - Position - Status/recovery

Sidney Crosby, Penguins Center Out since Jan. 5

Drew Doughty, Kings Defense Out from Oct. 20-Nov. 4

Marian Gaborik, Rangers Right wing Out from Feb. 20-March 6

Mike Green, Capitals Defense Out since Feb. 25

Dan Hamhuis, Canucks Defense Out from Feb. 9-22

Paul Kariya, Blues Left wing Out all season

Matthew Lombardi, Predators Right wing Out since Oct. 13

Brad Richards, Stars Center Out from Feb. 13-March 9

Marc Savard, Bruins Center Out for season

Sources: NHL.com; theconcussionblog.com

[airborne]

Lately concussions and head contact has become an issue for the NHL.

When I look at the names on the list of elite players who have suffered, and are still suffering, from concussions, I have to wonder if there is something that can be done, without making major changes in the game.

And this list is only a small part of the 72 players who have been injured this season alone!

I think if stricter rules and harsher penalties are introduced, the players will ajust and adapt.

This article is heavily excerpted. Click on the link to read it in it's entirety.

[airborne]

Hockey Ping!

(let me know if you want on or off the ping list)

[PGR88]

What's equally amazing to me is how prior to the 80's - we never heard about concussions. And that's when no one wore helmets, either.

RIP to the Sabres' Rick Martin, who passed away yesterday.

[airborne]

Well, we never heard about them, but that doesn't mean it wasn't happening.

Just like football players from the past are now coming forward and saying that they just played with them, for fear of losing their spot.

I'd like to see a survey of hockey players from the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s, and see how prevalent concussions were back then.

I also wonder if there is a better helmet that the players could wear.

[spyone]

He was a good player. Didn’t hurt playing with Gilbert Perrault, who is still totally underated.

[Alberta's Child]

Thanks for the ping, Airborne.

Bryce Salvador of the Devils isn't a top star like most of the other players on that list, but he's been out all season with concussion-related symptoms, too. What made that situation kind of bizarre is that his long-term injury actually helped the team's salary cap situation a lot this year (players on long-term injury reserve aren't counted against the cap).

[Varda]

I hope they make head shots a major penalty and also force suspensions on players who injure others while committing a penalty. I thought they made headshots illegal after the Cooke/Savard incident last year but alas this is the NHL we’re talking about, they only made “intent” suspendable. That left Steckel (cheapshot on Crosby) & Chara (same on Patchieretty) free to injure because apparently they pass the high school popularity test.

I’m one of those who would not morn the loss of fighting and the retirement of the goon culture. Get rid of fighting and add no touch icing and I think the game would be better.

[Varda]

Oh and Crosby skated officially for the first time since early January. OH happy day !!!!!! Get well soon Sid!

[airborne]

Same for Pittsburgh.

With Crosby and Malkin on IR, they had room on the salary cap to get Kovalev and Neal.

[frithguild]

Compare NFL injuries to Rugby injuries. Pads make you feel invincible and the helmet becomes a weapon.

[airborne]

Eric Tangradi is still on IR after getting a cheap shot from an Islanders player Trevor Gillies.

After being thrown out of the game, he came back and stood at the open door and was yelling at Tangradi, while he was still down on the ice.

Gillies stats for the year - 33 games -1 goal - 0 assissts - 124 penalty minutes

Players like this should not be allowed to play.

[Colonel_Flagg]

Get rid of face shields. Guys go into games feeling like they can’t be hurt. Sticks come up, elbows come up and when a guy gets run, it’s usually by a bigger and stronger player than was doing it thirty years ago.

And then throw the book at violators.

[Varda]

Thank you I forgot about Gillies. That guy needs to be more than suspended, he belongs in jail. League discipline is a joke.

[Alberta's Child]

I agree about the Steckel/Crosby incident, but I don't think there's any rule the NHL could possibly implement that would have resulted in disciplinary action in the Chara/Patchieretty incident. You can see that exact same type of play (a defending player riding an opponent up over the boards) played out dozens of times in any given season, and you rarely see even a minor penalty called on them, let alone follow-up disciplinary action. Even in Chara's case, the penalty called on the play (interference) is one of the most benign in all of hockey. If Patchieretty hadn't been injured on the play, there wouldn't have even been a formal hearing by the NHL.

I’m one of those who would not morn the loss of fighting and the retirement of the goon culture. Get rid of fighting and add no touch icing and I think the game would be better.

The reality is that the "goon culture" has largely disappeared from hockey -- and a lot of serious hockey pundits believe that bringing it back (to a certain degree) might actually help reduce the frequency and severity of some of these incidents.

[Varda]

The best you could say about Chara is that he was mindless about where he was on the ice and that mindlessness added an injury to an illegal play. Whether or not interference is “mild” is an opinion. I'd say interference is only mild when no injury occurs but that's not the case here.

Goon culture is still with us in the form of retribution for slights, disrepects (I think that's what Chara was up to) . Right now it's worse because some teams seem intent on getting revenge even for legal hits and supposedly honorable fights. It's vigilante justice and the league needs to reign it in.

[Alberta's Child]

If a play involving interference results in a serious injury like this, the on-ice officials always have the option of addressing it the way they did: by calling a major penalty and supplementing it with a game misconduct. The NHL always has the ability to review this type of incident afterward, and in this case they determined that no supplemental discipline was warranted. That same play could have occurred 100 times in a row with the same two players, and nothing more serious than a minor penalty would have been called except for the fact that one of them was injured.

[dznutz]

Get rid of face shields. Guys go into games feeling like they can’t be hurt. Sticks come up, elbows come up and when a guy gets run, it’s usually by a bigger and stronger player than was doing it thirty years ago. And then throw the book at violators.

I agree. Especially now with the rule changes the league implemented a few years ago in order to speed up the game. These guys really get up a good head of steam moving down the ice.

[Varda]

That’s the way the league sees this. Everything is a gray area with the league handing out discipline based on how they feel about the incident and the people involved. They think it’s an accident based on a reputation they bestowed on Chara.

For those that see differently this reeks of an injustice. I agree with Joe Thornton and Henrik Sedin. Players know how rinks are constructed and understand the danger of hitting and getting hit in certain areas. I can believe Chara didn’t intend the severity of the injury but I don’t believe that a pro-athlete so blessed with abilities to make and execute decisions in a microsecond, is not responsible for the outcome of one decision gone wrong.

[LED lights]

Rip Rick Martin
My gripe with the Chara hit was that it was blatent interference. You should not be allowed to hit a guy when he does not have the puck and is not expecting a hit. Guy with puck,head down you take your chances. guy with out puck, you hit him and he gets hurt you should get suspended.
Chara knew there was no glass there, he was trying to knock the gut right out of the rink in retaliation for the previous games hit from benind.

[wastedyears]

John Tavares and Blake Comeau of the NY Islanders have had concussions this current season.