Leafs’ decision on injured player sparks furor over head-injury rules

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The way a clearly dazed NHL player was handled during a game Tuesday has intensified the debate surrounding hits to the head, with the league’s rules and mores under fire and parents expressing increased concern about the dangers of the sport.
While the Toronto Maple Leafs insist they did not risk Mikhail Grabovski’s health when he was allowed to continue playing after two blows to the head, concussion experts raised questions Wednesday about the NHL’s protocol.

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GalleryGrabovski's night: Two hits and the winning goalPollDo minor hockey coaches have suitable training to know when their players have suffered a concussion?YesNoI don't knowResults & past polls
4%198 votesYes73%3970 votesNo23%1261 votesI don't knowMore polls globe.poll.display({'id':'1877989','context':'sidebar'});Download this media filePDF DocumentSport Concussion Assessment Tool 2Quick, reliable tests developed by brain doctorsDownload this file (.pdf)“When I see injuries that occur when players sustain heavy hits to the head or body and have signs that are externally exhibited – signs of the inability to co-ordinate, slowness to get up – those guys have to be evaluated medically, not just tapped on the shoulder, asked if they are okay and they say they’re good to go,” said Paul Echlin, a sports medicine physician from London, Ont., who studies concussions. “That is antiquated.”
Mr. Grabovski was hailed as a hero when he came back from two hits from 6-foot-9 Boston Bruins defenceman Zdeno Chara to score the winning goal in the last minute Tuesday night as the Leafs defeated the Bruins in Boston. Video replays of the second hit show Mr. Grabovski falling to the ice, struggling to get up, falling a second time, then stumbling to the bench.
But the incident also gave new impetus to the debate on concussions, which continues to rage as the National Hockey League’s biggest star, Sidney Crosby, and many other players are sidelined with head injuries. The NHL’s general managers plan to study all aspects of concussions and head shots next month at their annual meetings.
But meanwhile, the NHL incidents have left Canadian hockey parents wrestling with questions on the home front.
“We talk about head injuries and how the head is so fragile and you can’t take risks with it, and how important it is not to hit people from behind,” said Theresa Dostaler, a Belleville, Ont.-area mother of three with two sons playing hockey. “It’s good for having conversations. But it also makes them leery. They understand it could be career-ending.”
The questions surrounding Mr. Grabovski are whether the Leafs should have pulled him from the game after either hit, and whether the NHL’s concussion protocol is adequate. Mr. Grabovski said he was fine after the game and was in the lineup on Wednesday night against the Buffalo Sabres.
An NHL spokesman said the league is “comfortable” with its present protocol, although he added “it is constantly being reviewed.”
While the group of doctors who make up the joint NHL-NHLPA working group on concussions is expected to recommend that any player suspected of sustaining a concussion undergo an exam in the dressing room by a doctor starting next season, at present a player can be cleared to return to play by his team’s athletic trainer.
The current protocol says, “A player suspected of having sustained a concussion should be initially evaluated by the team’s athletic trainer and/or team physician at the bench. If a concussion is suspected the player should be removed from the playing environment …”
Since the Leafs were the visiting team on Tuesday night, they did not have a team physician with them. But Leafs general manager Brian Burke said Mr. Grabovski was examined and questioned at the bench by trainer Andy Playter, who determined he did not suffer a concussion.
“[Mr. Playter] went right to Grabbo [Mr. Grabovski] and said, ‘How are you?’ He had total recall, he said the puck hit the crossbar, like total recall on the situation. No blackout, no loss of memory, no dizziness, no nausea,” Mr. Burke told Toronto radio station Sportsnet The Fan 590. “And so the trainer said to him, ‘Are you good to go?’ and he said, yeah he got it in the jaw. He said he just got it in the jaw and was disoriented. No symptoms.”