Prelude - The biggest story in hockey over the past 10 months has been the increased acknowledgement and discussion of concussions. The most famous one, before now, was Eric Lindros. Now, the most famous one is to Sidney Crosby. The most marketable athlete in all of the NHL remains out of action. And the big question still remains, "until when?"
Sport - Hockey
Event - News on the weekend that there is still no return schedule for Sidney Crosby to rejoin his team the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Point to say - "Did you see this weekend the news on Crosby? Still no word on his return."
Follow up point - "Do you think he'll be back before the All star in Ottawa*?"
Backgrounder
Crosby has been out since last January due to a concussion. While he has been practicing, even the best of players needs time to get acclimatized to game speed, contact and making plays on the fly. So the recent news this weekend that he is still not cleared to play means he has a while yet to go.
"Before there was Sidney Crosby, there was Eric Lindros. Both were hockey prodigies as young teenagers. Both were drafted first overall into the NHL. Both won the league MVP in their early 20s, both were captain of Team Canada at the Olympics, and both were hailed as the next Wayne Gretzky or Mario Lemieux. And then, in a fraction of a second, both fell victim to devastating concussions."**
Eric Lindros played hockey from 92 to 2006. He was a very famous NHL All Star. He suffered numerous injuries. Some of his most famous were from the numerous concussions he sustained.
Analysis
The concussion on Lindros was always blamed on his "weak head". Hockey pundits were quick to blame any player who skated with his head looking down at the puck and not up at the action in front of him. Fans themselves always yell out during big hits, so together all this created a culture of physical contact at any price.
Before it was always said: you get your bell rung, you shake it off, then you go back out to prove how tough you are. If even headway was made about the seriousness of concussions, "...far too often concussion is downplayed by athletes and sports leagues, ignored by the public, misdiagnosed by trainers and doctors, and under-studied or not well understood by scientists."**
But now, the public, the sports writers are finally changing their tune to acknowledge the danger. More recently, concussions were being associated with the recent depressions experienced by many athletes. This year, for the first time in the NHL, there are stiffer penalties being handed out by a former NHL player (Brendan Shanahan) now NHL Head Disciplinarian. Suspensions are the order of the day for heads shots.
Minor hockey now has all referees calling up to 4 minute minor penalties for any hit to the head.
Best news possible. Sid himself spoke out against head shots. You don't see top athletes ever speaking out against the game they play. While didn't exactly criticise, he did say "if a guy's got to be responsible with his stick, why shouldn't he be responsible with the rest of his body when he's going to hit someone? Whether it's accidental or not accidental, you've got to be responsible out there, and like I said, at the end of the day, it [head shots] could do a lot more good than what it's going to take away from the game."
More need to speak out against when a grumpy fan yells at a ref "let 'em play". More need to yell back "concussions ain't worth it!"
Links
**taken from ...Macleans Article on Concussions and Eric Lindros.
Read more: http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/TopStories/20110907/sidney-crosby-nhl-concussion-110907/#ixzz1ctez8EL3
Link to Hockey Canada's rule on head shots: http://www.hockeycanada.ca/HeadContactRule
Sport - Hockey
Event - News on the weekend that there is still no return schedule for Sidney Crosby to rejoin his team the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Point to say - "Did you see this weekend the news on Crosby? Still no word on his return."
Follow up point - "Do you think he'll be back before the All star in Ottawa*?"
- *bonus points in the eyes of the person you are talking to if you throw the fact that the NHL All Star game is in Ottawa this year into the mix - makes you really look like you know your stuff.
Backgrounder
Crosby has been out since last January due to a concussion. While he has been practicing, even the best of players needs time to get acclimatized to game speed, contact and making plays on the fly. So the recent news this weekend that he is still not cleared to play means he has a while yet to go.
"Before there was Sidney Crosby, there was Eric Lindros. Both were hockey prodigies as young teenagers. Both were drafted first overall into the NHL. Both won the league MVP in their early 20s, both were captain of Team Canada at the Olympics, and both were hailed as the next Wayne Gretzky or Mario Lemieux. And then, in a fraction of a second, both fell victim to devastating concussions."**
Eric Lindros played hockey from 92 to 2006. He was a very famous NHL All Star. He suffered numerous injuries. Some of his most famous were from the numerous concussions he sustained.
Analysis
The concussion on Lindros was always blamed on his "weak head". Hockey pundits were quick to blame any player who skated with his head looking down at the puck and not up at the action in front of him. Fans themselves always yell out during big hits, so together all this created a culture of physical contact at any price.
Before it was always said: you get your bell rung, you shake it off, then you go back out to prove how tough you are. If even headway was made about the seriousness of concussions, "...far too often concussion is downplayed by athletes and sports leagues, ignored by the public, misdiagnosed by trainers and doctors, and under-studied or not well understood by scientists."**
But now, the public, the sports writers are finally changing their tune to acknowledge the danger. More recently, concussions were being associated with the recent depressions experienced by many athletes. This year, for the first time in the NHL, there are stiffer penalties being handed out by a former NHL player (Brendan Shanahan) now NHL Head Disciplinarian. Suspensions are the order of the day for heads shots.
Minor hockey now has all referees calling up to 4 minute minor penalties for any hit to the head.
Best news possible. Sid himself spoke out against head shots. You don't see top athletes ever speaking out against the game they play. While didn't exactly criticise, he did say "if a guy's got to be responsible with his stick, why shouldn't he be responsible with the rest of his body when he's going to hit someone? Whether it's accidental or not accidental, you've got to be responsible out there, and like I said, at the end of the day, it [head shots] could do a lot more good than what it's going to take away from the game."
More need to speak out against when a grumpy fan yells at a ref "let 'em play". More need to yell back "concussions ain't worth it!"
Links
**taken from ...Macleans Article on Concussions and Eric Lindros.
Crosby
hit by David Steckel of the Washington
Capitals (video) and then shortly after hit by Victor
Hedman(notes) of the Lightning.
Read more: http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/TopStories/20110907/sidney-crosby-nhl-concussion-110907/#ixzz1ctez8EL3
Link to Hockey Canada's rule on head shots: http://www.hockeycanada.ca/HeadContactRule
