I’ve been covering the NHL for over a decade and I’ve never seen so many players currently out with concussions. Here is the latest list:

Jeff Skinner – Hurricanes
Joni Pitkanen - Hurricanes
Milan Michalek - Ottawa
Sidney Crosby – Penguins
Claude Giroux – Flyers
Chris Pronger - Flyers
Marc Staal – Rangers
Michael Sauer – Rangers

Now there is another list of players who have had concussions or concussion-like symptoms that have since returned. No matter how you slice it the list is staggering.

The NHL has tried to get rid of head shots; we’ve talked about better helmets. I no longer hear about the one Mark Messier (the M11) was helping bring to market. Why? We know players are quirky about the type of helmet they wear. We’ve seen that with the “visor” situation and now I think it’s time to change the player’s equipment.

Listen to our equipment discussion on last week’s edition of “Off the Post”

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/cardboardconnectionradio/2012/01/03/off-the...

I had my first introduction to a head injury when as a young boy I hit my head on some bricks in my front yard. I saw stars. Back then I shook it off and went on with my business. My parents rubbed it and sent me on my way. The fluid that protects your brain and reacts to trauma was on overload and I saw stars.

My second potential problem was when I was 7 or 8 and I was hit in the eye with a baseball – twice! Once in a game and once in practice. Both times I wanted to keep playing but my parents had me see an eye doctor. I suffered no damage but I wonder if that made me more susceptible to concussions down the road.

Well when I was around 20 I got my first diagnosed concussion. It was pretty severe and it came via a car. I was forced off the road and my car’s brakes dug into the ground and my head hit the back of the headrest and the front of the wheel.

I had an EEG which measured the electrical activity in my brain. It was a scary time for me. I was tired all the time and for around two weeks I wasn’t myself. I would watch television and then forget what I had watched. Thankfully this has never returned but it’s similar to what players go through for sure.

The NHL is doing everything they can to protect the players, I believe that. I would like to see a change in the equipment, even if it was for a short time like the preseason just to see how players would react to having less armor on.

We are used to hearing that players are bigger, faster, and stronger, and they are. Some may feel like they are indestructible on the ice. Pairing down the equipment might change that. They might not be as willing to bang into another player when they can avoid it. Checking is one thing but needless collisions are another.

Fans want to see players leave it all on the ice but we have to understand that these warriors are human and susceptible to injury. I would guess a lot of players will get concussions throughout their playing career and that may be unavoidable, but what I’d like to see are less career-ending head injuries.

photo by del Tufo.