Nugent-hopkins sidelined as concussion symptoms return

The Edmonton Oilers were hoping that, after a brutal stretch of cancellations and awkward reschedulings, a week off would mean a temporary halt to the bad news.

Nope.

They got another dose Thursday with news that Ryan Nugent-hopkins had a relapse of concussion symptoms and won't be joining them on their upcoming road trip.

Nugent-hopkins took a high hit away from Ottawa Senators defenceman Thomas Chabot last Wednesday and has already missed two games. He hasn't practised with the team, either, but had been skating by himself beforehand.

He was off the ice entirely on Thursday.

“It's caution,” said head coach Dave Tippett. “He skated by himself a few times and today wasn't feeling as good as he was the last couple of days, so he stayed off the ice.

“There is no use taking him on a quick, two-day trip like this if he's not going to have a chance to play. We'll leave him home and hopefully he can continue to rest. He'll skate here with (skating coach) Dave Pelletier and we'll see how he is when we get back.”

These things can drag on for extended periods, though. Defenceman Ethan Bear got hit on the side of the head by a puck while sitting on the bench earlier this season and missed 11 games, so you never know how each situation is going to progress.

Nugent-hopkins brings a lot of value in a lot of different areas and his absence represents a significant dropoff once you get past Connor Mcdavid and Leon Draisaitl, especially if they are playing on the same line. It's a formation that doesn't leave much hope for offence from the bottom nine.

“He touches a lot of different parts,” said Tippett. “He plays solid minutes for us. You have to find somebody else who will step in and take some of those minutes.

“We have a lot of players who are looking for more opportunity to play in situations, so we'll get a few more of those guys involved and see how it goes.”

SYMPATHY PAINS

Sports are a cutthroat business, where teams delight in taking advantage of an opponent's weakness. If it means a better chance of winning on that night, they have no problem exploiting any frailty they can find.

The other guys are tired? Take the two points and move on.

With the Edmonton Oilers in a heated race for second place in the North Division, that would be the normal battle cry as they prepared for a road game against the pandemic-devastated Canucks. They need this win to keep pace with the Winnipeg Jets.

But even they can't help but feel sympathy for what the Canucks are going through right now and agree the NHL'S primary focus should be the health and safety of the players and their families.

“Obviously this game is important to a lot of players, but your family comes first. When guys are dealing with that, it's scary,” said defenceman Kris Russell.

The NHL is a small world, so even though the sweater each player wears dictates who his rivals are, a lot of them know each other well, so the concern is genuine. These aren't empty platitudes directed at strangers in another city.

“I know a guy over there that I've trained with for the last 10 years,” said Russell. “When you see him on the (COVID-19) list you reach out and wish him the best.

“The NHL is a close-knit group, so when you see something like that and how quick it went through that team, you hope that everyone recovers 100 per cent and is healthy. It's something you can't take lightly.”