The NHL's Headache

It was a sad, pathetic sight. The NHL’s fifth all-time points leader, Ron Francis, had just met the wide and devastating shoulder of New Jersey Devils defenseman, Scott Stevens, in the third game of this year's playoffs between the Carolina Hurricanes and the Devils. There was the 38-year-old Francis – a 20-year veteran and respected figure in the game – in the seconds following the hit, he was a flopping figure whose base hockey instincts forced him to make his way back to the bench. But the man could not stand: his legs continued to buckle and his body continued to crumple to the ice. Francis had suffered a concussion. His season was finished after that hit, which didn’t even appear to be that harmful.

Yet that’s precisely the frightening reality in the throbbing world of concussions. And only in the mid-90s did this affliction become spotlighted. A solution to halt the rash of head injuries in the NHL has not even slowed down the outbreak. In last year’s playoffs, Scott Stevens alone delivered a half dozen concussions from monstrous hits en route to the Stanley Cup championship. Stevens’ vicious defense and checking deservedly earned him the playoff MVP. He was ironically rewarded for sending fellow players to the hospital – most notably, star Philadelphia Flyer Eric Lindros (#88 pictured below) – and most hockey fans cheered; some booed.

And why wouldn’t we? Hockey fans love and crave the big hits as much as the bareknuckle fights, the gorgeous goals and the glorious saves. But what about those concussions?

By definition, a concussion is a post-traumatic impairment of neural status. Sports translation: an injury to the brain caused by a violent blow followed by a temporary or prolonged loss of function. Injury symptoms include headaches, memory loss, dizziness, nausea, disorientation, and a loss of consciousness, balance or concentration. Quite an extensive list of ailments to be recognized.

Once an individual sustains a concussion, there is a greater risk that he or she may sustain another – the individual simply becomes more susceptible. It has been said that with each concussion, the swelling factor of the brain increases up to four times. (For example, the second concussion results in four times the swelling of the brain compared to the first concussion. And so on.) This is a scary thought: once you suffer serious head trauma, your brain is never fully safe from injury, only more vulnerable to further and greater injury.

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