Why was Sid still playing?
The NHL’s “concussion evaluation and management protocol” is a seven-page document issued before this season that provides requirements for each club pertaining to each player. It outlines educational videos and literature, mandates baseline testing and provides for the implementation of “spotters” at each game, the judge and jury as to when players should be removed from the ice — because over time, neither clubs nor players have shown enough responsibility in the moment to prioritize players’ safety.
There was a concussion spotter at Monday night’s second- round playoff game between t he Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals. Presumably, that spotter was not deciding between pretzels and potato chips as an in- game snack when none other than Sidney Crosby careened down the ice in the first period, clipped the side of the Capitals’ net and crashed headfirst into the boards.
When you read the “evaluati on and management protocol” and you look at the list of reasons a player must be removed from a game — not “can be,” but “must be” — you wonder how Crosby didn’t miss a shift.
Let’s state a few facts in rather random order: Crosby has had four documented concussions. The most recent came last week, when he was cross-checked in the head by Washington’s Matt Niskanen. That concussion caused Crosby to miss Game 4 of the series. There are studies that outline the impact of repeated blows to the head that result in concussions, including chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).
More facts: the Penguins are better when Crosby is healthy and plays. Crosby’s headlong crash i nto the boards Monday night was enough to cause some people to shudder and look away. But he did not enter the NHL’s concussion evaluation and management protocol. What? “I think what you’re talking about is the difference between checking with a doctor and entering the concussion protocol,” Crosby told reporters at the Penguins’ practice Tuesday.
Fine. Crosby said he was checked by a doctor between the first and second periods. He reported no symptoms. The NHL’s spotter was in contact, but because Crosby said he was OK, he was allowed to return to the ice.
The protocol requires mandatory removal — and i t’s actually in bold and underlined t y peface — should a player report any one of a series of symptoms, including a headache or dizziness or nausea or disorientation. It calls for mandatory removal for a player who shows one of the following signs: “Lying motionless on the ice,” which is generally determined if the spotter notices the player, um, lying motionless on the ice.
“Motor incoordination/ balance problems,” in which the spotter must identify the player stumbling or staggering or having trouble skating.
“Blank or vacant look,” which the NHL, in its policy, describes as, “A player has a blank or vacant look.”
And, the final sign: “Slow to get up or clutches his head.”
When Crosby curled up along the boards, and he waited f or Washington’s John Carlson and Pittsburgh’s Patric Hornqvist to get off him, he first got on all fours, his stick between his legs on the ice. He appeared to gather himself, at the very least.
Blank or vacant l ook? Can’t say with any certainty. Slow to get up? It took Crosby roughly six seconds from when he hit the boards and roughly four seconds after Hornqvist got off him. It’s an eternity.
It’s clear Crosby was “slow to get up,” and it takes just one of the signs to require removal from a game, you have to wonder why he kept playing. And then you read further. For some reason, a player who is slow to get up and clutches his head must be doing so because of one of three “mechanisms of injury”: ❚ A blow to the player’s head or upper torso from another player’s shoulder; ❚ The player’s head makes secondary contact with the ice; or, ❚ The player is punched in the head (including any part of his face) by an ungloved fist during a fight.
“Exceptions:” the policy continues. “If a Player is Slow to Get Up or Clutches his Head following a mechanism of injury other than the three listed above, removal f rom play is not mandatory and Club medical staff shall exercise their medical j udgment as to whether to remove the Player for an acute evaluation.”
Uh, why in the world would t here be specific “mechanisms” by which a player must be injured that require his removal, but the dozens of other ways a hockey player could become concussed — say, slamming headfirst into the boards, for instance — aren’t covered?
The Penguins, by t he letter of the law, did nothing wrong Monday night. Crosby’s own self-evaluation r eported no s ymptoms, and t he t eam’s medical staff checked him out. They moved on.
But there’s a flaw here, at least one. You can’t, in the moment, watch Crosby crumple against t he boards, know his history with head injuries and think he shouldn’t be evaluated further. The impact might not have been on Monday’s game. The impact could be on Crosby’s future — and not on the ice.
If the Penguins and Crosby handled things according to NHL protocol, then the NHL has to change its protocol — and fast.