Why was Crosby still playing Monday?
A week after suffering a concussion, Pens star remained in game after slamming into boards
PITTSBURGH — After Sidney Crosby barrelled into the boards near the end of the first period Monday, he lay face down on the ice for a few moments before pushing himself up.
Crosby then paused on his hands and knees, drew a deep breath and slowly got back onto his feet before skating toward the action. The sequence started when Crosby, teammate Patric Hornqvist and Capitals defenceman John Carlson tumbled behind the Capitals’ net and it left Crosby shaken. It also came exactly a week after Crosby sustained a concussion in Game 3. Following Monday’s game, however, Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said Crosby had not been evaluated for a concussion.
“Mike, were you concerned when you saw Sid sort of slow to get up a couple times in the first and was he evaluated for a concussion in the first intermission?” a reporter asked Sullivan.
“No ... No ... ,” Sullivan said and he did not elaborate.
When Crosby was asked if he was evaluated following that play, the Penguins’ star said, “Yeah, yeah ... Pretty standard.” He also did not elaborate or indicate if he was specifically evaluated for a concussion. He did not immediately leave the ice after the play, rejoining the Penguins’ power play for a defensive-zone faceoff.
“When you go in like that, it just kind of knocked the wind out of me,” Crosby said. “It was a fluky fall, but not one you want to make too often.”
In October, the NHL announced updates to its concussion protocol, the centrepiece of which was a new staff of central league spotters that would monitor all contests from the NHL’s player safety room in New York.
Deputy commissioner Bill Daly said the centralized concussion spotter made the determination the play did not meet the criteria for mandatory removal from play. Protocol says a player must be removed if a spotter sees symptoms after a blow to the head or upper torso from another player’s shoulder, his head hitting the ice or taking a punch to the head.
The NHL’s concussion protocol lists six situations that would warrant an “acute evaluation” for a possible concussion.
The first is if a player exhibits one or more of nine listed symptoms, including disorientation, after a direct or indirect blow to the head. The second is a player lying motionless on the ice or falling to the ice in an unprotected manner. The third is a player exhibiting “motor co-ordination/balance problems.” The fourth is a player exhibiting a “blank or vacant look.” The fifth is when a player is “slow to get up” or “clutches his head.” The sixth is when a player “exhibits any other sign, symptom or behaviour that leads club medical personnel to suspect that a player has sustained a possible concussion.”
The protocol specifies that fifth situation stated above, saying it is warranted for evaluation if the player clutches his head or any part of his face after three kinds of plays: A blow to the player’s head or upper torso from another player’s shoulder, the player’s head making secondary contact with the ice or when the player is punched in the head by an ungloved fist during a fight. Then, if the player is “slow to get up or clutches his head following a mechanism of injury other than the three listed above, removal from play is not mandatory and club medical staff shall exercise their medical judgment as to whether to remove the player for an acute evaluation.”
The public concern surrounding Crosby is heightened because it has been just seven days since he sustained a concussion on a crosscheck by Matt Niskanen. That was the fourth reported concussion of his career and kept him out of Game 4 on May 3. The 29-year-old has missed 115 games due to concussion-related issues.
One of the effects of numerous concussions is that the threshold for future head injuries is lower, two concussion experts said last week. That is only to say that Crosby, based on research, has grown more likely to sustain a concussion after each recurring head injury.