Staal, Lack have good reason to be thankful for concussion protocol
Jordan Staal was understandably grateful to play Tuesday after missing seven games with post-concussion symptoms. And Eddie Lack is finally back on track after similar struggles.
It demonstrates the advancement in understanding and immediate action on the part of all parties to the concussion protocol. This season, the scrutiny is more intense. Four concussion spotters view every game at National Hockey League headquarters in Toronto and New York and have the authority to remove players — this in addition to the arena spotters.
Trainers, coaches and players have begun to put concussion concerns before old-school bravado. That culture had to change, and it has.
Staal, 28, endured his first concussionwhenstruckintheheadbya stick on Nov. 27. The Carolina Hurricanes’ trainers knew something wasn’t right when the 6-foot-4, 220-pound Staal fell to the ice.
It was the same story when Lack was injured Nov. 21 on a dump-in drill during practice. The former Vancouver Canucks goaltender went to play the puck in a scramble behind the net and hit the back of his head on the end boards.
“A one-in-a-million shot,” Lack said Tuesday. “I felt dizzy and sore.”
Lack was placed on injured reserve and still isn’t practising, but Staal was willing to hold court.
When he collided with Florida Panthers defenceman Jason Demers — the blade of a stick struck a falling Staal in back of the head — a spotter didn’t need to take the centre out of the game. The trainer pulled him out.
“My first one and hopefully my last one,” Staal said. “But we have a great staff here and everything was done professionally — there were no risks to be taken. You don’t want to mess around with this stuff, but it is frustrating. With a broken bone, you have a timeline and things you can work on, but this is sitting and waiting.
“But it’s one brain and there for the rest of your life and you want to take care of things to ensure your future. And when you have good people around you, you know you’re not coming back until you’re 100 per cent.
“When I got hit, I noticed something right away. It was the spinning head and very dizzy and being off balance. It was tough to find where I was for a while.”
“Eddie has struggled more than me getting back,” Staal added, “and has gone through some ups and downs because everybody is different. He’s having trouble with his neck and headaches and all that kind of stuff.”
While advancements have been made in prevention, awareness and post-concussion care, there is a grey area when it comes to removing players from the game.
Not all contact is concussionrelated. Canucks winger Derek Dorsett took issue when asked at the start of this season about spotters and how it would or could affect the kind of grinding, colliding game he plays.
“It can take the pressure off coaches and trainers, but how can somebody from afar judge?” he asked.
“It’s hard to take a player out of a game unless he’s Bambi-legged or goes to the wrong box. Sometimes, when a guy is crunched and winded and goes down, it looks like (a concussion) because he’s along the wall.
“But there are times when you’re crunched that you can’t breathe and are hunched over. Is a spotter going to say he’s out? (A hit) can have nothing to do with your head and there are a lot of injuries that might look like you got hit in the head.
“I broke my collarbone when Andrew Alberts hit me and people probably thought I was hit in the head because I was hunched down. My shoulder was broken.”