Regina Leader-Post

Canucks coach still quietly seething

- CAM COLE

VANCOUVER — A few ears perked up Friday morning when — in answer to a question about star forward Daniel Sedin’s progress or lack of same — Canucks coach Alain Vigneault admitted he has never read the National Hockey League’s concussion protocol. Then again, neither had I. So I called the league, got a copy of the document sent to me, and the mystery was instantly cleared up.

The NHL protocol for diagnosing concussion­s, treating them and eventually releasing concussed players back into the wild is, while doubtless well-intentione­d, a little like an impenetrab­le poem or the lyrics to I Am The Walrus — it might be saying this, or it might be saying that.

As the document puts it, “... the diagnosis of concussion and subsequent return to play following a concussion is an individual­ized decision by the Team Physician based on the principles set forth in this document and all informatio­n available to him ...”

There’s a whole lot of “may be caused” and “may result” and “may or may not” in the section entitled “Concussion Defined.” The protocol provides plenty of wiggle room for returning a player to the ice, even in the same game “if the player diagnosed with a concussion has rapid and complete recovery of symptoms at rest and upon exertion” — and no specific number of days (despite many reports to the contrary) must elapse after the player is symptom-free before he may resume game action.

It’s a best guess, basically, open to interpreta­tion and, therefore, to abuse, which is why you see certain players who have been clearly and publicly knocked loopy jump right back over the boards a couple of days (or shifts) later with the team explaining it as: “He says he feels fine. I guess he’s got a hard head, ha ha.”

But we were talking about Daniel Sedin, who remains out, 23 days after being elbowed in the head by Chicago Blackhawks defenceman Duncan Keith. Henrik’s little brother skated lightly, away from the team, on Friday morning and did not dress for Game 2 of the Canucks’ playoff series with the Los Angeles Kings.

Keith was suspended for five games, and was back in plenty of time for the Blackhawks’ playoffs.

Among the “Concussion Signs (Observable)” that applied to Sedin were “slow to get up following a hit to the head” and “clutching of head after a hit.” Among the “Concussion Symptoms (player reported)” was “headache” — a point of controvers­y when a Swedish website reported earlier this week that Daniel had told his father he suffered a headache after a full practice with the Canucks on Monday ... yet he still skated on Tuesday.

But there is nothing in the NHL’S concussion protocol that says the Canucks are fudging the rules. If Daniel has passed his baseline test, he theoretica­lly can play as soon as he gets through a strenuous workout without any symptoms.

The trouble is that so far, that doesn’t appear to be the case, and the longer the Canucks have to go without last year’s Art Ross Trophy and Ted Lindsay Award-winning sniper, the harder the task is of even getting through the opening round of playoffs.

For their part, the Kings know Daniel’s absence makes their job just a little easier.

“Well, I don’t know how many points he’s had in his career, but figure it out,” said defenceman Rob Scuderi. “The guy produces, he’s a great offensive force for them, so if he doesn’t play, it’s certainly to our advantage.”

It doesn’t mean they can let Henrik dangle in free space, just because he doesn’t have his doppelgang­er to convert his saucer passes.

“As far as them not being as good (apart) I don’t know, I haven’t seen them play enough by themselves,” Scuderi said. “If we can limit (Henrik’s) chances because he doesn’t have that chemistry, that’s great. But he’s still a great, dynamic offensive player. I don’t think we’re going to give him any more time and space than we ever tried not to.”

Vigneault is from the “out of sight, out of mind” school — wherein the injured player is a non-person until he’s ready to help the team again. But a sympatheti­c question Friday about the basic injustice of Keith’s return compared to the deprivatio­n the Canucks must suffer without Sedin elicited a hint of his true feelings.

The coach, whose own job security is bound to be debated (nonsensica­lly, it says here) if the team exits in the first round, is still quietly seething at the five games that Keith received, which amounted to nothing more than a pre-playoff rest-and-recharge opportunit­y for a defenceman who logs a ton of minutes for the Blackhawks.

“I’m going to measure my words very carefully,” Vigneault said, after some thought. “There is nothing we can do. I mean, (Daniel) is not here and we have to deal with the situation.

“The culprit in that incident got five games from the National Hockey League. I remember (Canucks defenceman) Aaron Rome getting four games last year in the Stanley Cup final for a hit (on Boston’s Nathan Horton) that was maybe .2 seconds late. Clean hit, guy had the puck. In Daniel’s case, there was no puck. So I’m going to leave it at that.”

He knows the score, and it’s not exactly a scoop. Rome was a nobody, the perfect fall guy for a league looking to show it was tough on crime. So what if his banishment for the rest of the Cup final was akin to the death penalty?

Keith is a Norris Trophy winner. Different class, whole different set of instructio­ns to the jury.

So he’s playing, while Daniel has a headache, one his whole team can feel.

 ?? Reuters ?? Vancouver Canucks’ Daniel Sedin, seen practising earlier this month, remains sidelined by a concussion.
Reuters Vancouver Canucks’ Daniel Sedin, seen practising earlier this month, remains sidelined by a concussion.
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