Concussions Rock the East
Head injuries and hockey have, unfortunately, gone hand in hand the past few years. Concussions and other head-related injuries have become much more prominent in the NHL over the last three seasons, affecting everyone from league superstars to lesser-known role players. It seems like every week there’s another player who is sidelined by a concussion, and this serious injury has hit the Eastern conference especially hard this week.
After making his triumphant return to the NHL after being sidelined by a concussion since last season, Sidney Crosby, the face of the NHL, is back on the injured list with concussion-like symptoms. In a game against Boston last week, Crosby collided with David Krejci, which has been debated as the cause of the onset concussion symptoms. Crosby made a huge comeback, scoring four points in his first game back and being automatically put into the conversation for top scorer in the league come the end of the season. His torrid few weeks of play, however, came to a screeching halt after his collision with Krejci. Head Coach Dan Bylsma and GM Ray Shero decided to keep Crosby out for a couple games to ensure that he was 100% healthy, but that couple games quickly turned to “indefinitely” after Crosby decided he wasn’t ready to return to the ice. He skated with some impact and said that he didn’t feel totally right, so the Pens have shelved their superstar once again, hoping that his injury doesn’t last nearly as long as when he sustained his first concussion. I think it’s a smart move on the Pens part to keep Crosby out, because they have proven all season long, both with and without Crosby, that they can win on a nightly basis. This team will need their best player later in the season when they are pushing for a high playoff seed and during a playoff run, so it makes sense to keep him out as long as possible to get him back to full health instead of risking a longer-term injury to the face of their franchise.
Crosby isn’t the only NHL star who has suffered the effects of a head injury, though. Same state, same story. In Philadelphia, top-line center and the NHL’s leading scorer Claude Giroux is out indefinitely, as well, after suffering a concussion this weekend. The Flyers have sidelined their top scorer after he took a knee to the back of his head while teammate Wayne Simmonds tried to leap over him in a game this past weekend. He was immediately removed from the game, and his symptoms have gotten progressively worse over the past few days. This is terrible news, not only for the Flyers and their fans, but for hockey fans as a whole. When a dynamic, young scorer like Giroux begins to separate himself as one of the NHL’s elite players goes down with a head injury, it makes everyone take a deeper look at how these injuries are affecting the game of hockey. No matter how much protection players are offered, the game is so much faster and much more physical than it was even five years ago. Concussions seem almost commonplace in the NHL these days, which doesn’t bode well for the game. Players may become too timid, and great players whose star status is appreciated every time they skate out onto the ice becomes diminished with every game they miss. So far this season, Giroux leads the NHL with 39 points, and leads the Flyers with 16 goals and 23 assists. Flyers GM Paul Holmgren hasn’t given any sort of timetable for Giroux’s return, but with Captain Chris Pronger out with a concussion and rookie forward Brayden Schenn out with a mild concussion as well, you can bet he isn’t going to rush Giroux back and risk further injury.
In the Western Conference, the coaching carousel keeps on turning, with the most recent victim being Terry Murray of the Los Angeles Kings. After losing their fourth straight game Saturday night, with lackluster, emotionless play, pundits in LA were calling for Murray’s head. The team clearly wasn’t responding to his message anymore, and even though he helped turn that franchise around when he took over as head coach three years ago, his message had apparently gone stale in the LA locker room. The Kings have all the pieces in place to be a contender in the West: a solid defensive corps and a multitude of forwards who can put the puck in the net. However, with a league low GPG, it was clear that something needed to change quickly in the City of Angels, and as it always seems in the NHL, the coach is the first head on the chopping block. Murray established a tough defensive team over three seasons, but sometimes a coach just loses some players in the locker room, which can cause dissention or emotionless play, which has been the case in LA. It’s not all Murray’s fault, he can’t shoulder all the blame for how bad the Kings have been playing. They are paying stars like Drew Doughty over $7 million a year, and he especially is not performing up to his contract. Maybe he feels the pressure to exceed expectations and live up to the hype, or maybe he isn’t the type of player GM Dean Lombardi thought he was. Could Doughty be the next to go in LA? Only time will tell. In the meantime, interim coach John Stevens probably won’t last the rest of the season as the head coach, as the Kings are looking at former Calgary Flames GM Darryl Sutter to replace Murray. They have received permission from the Flames to talk to Sutter, who is still under contract after being fired as GM last season. The Kings currently sit in 12th place in the West, and if their play doesn’t begin to pick up soon under whichever coach they have behind the bench, they could find themselves on the outside looking in come playoff time. It shouldn’t be ignored that Lombardi and Sutter are good friends, since Sutter was Lombardi’s coach in San Jose, so look for a potential new hire to be made in LA as soon as this week. The Kings are by far the biggest disappointment in the West so far this season, and if they want to have any chance of contending for the Western Conference title, they need to right the ship, and fast.
