Headshots and Hockey: Player safety still a concern (Part 4 of 5)

[CdnSailor]

The issue of head injuries in hockey has been front and centre, especially with respect to concussions and growing concerns over the role of fighting. Although the most prominent discussions have pertained to the NHL, the repercussions are far-reaching, extending to hockey’s developmental system. With that in mind, Leader-Post sports writer Greg Harder has prepared a five-part series on head injuries. In today’s instalment — Part 4 — we look at head shots from a medical perspective and also delve into the apparent lack of respect between players in today’s game.

REGINA — Dr. Patrick Neary has dedicated several years of meticulous research to unlocking the concussion enigma.

Regardless of how many doors he may open, Neary is resigned to the fact that he’ll never completely understand how the sport of hockey can take such progressive measures to discourage head shots while at the same time clinging to a method of bare-knuckle justice from a bygone era.

“I know what I’ve observed with my research and, in my own opinion, it would be a better game without fighting in it,” said Neary, executive director of the Dr. Paul Schwann Applied Health and Research Centre in Regina. “When it comes to the Olympics, it’s such wonderful hockey to watch. I think they need to take fighting out of the game because I never believed it was part of the game.”

Neary’s sentiments apply to head shots in general, the kind of heedless hits that have turned concussions into an epidemic while shortening careers — and perhaps lives — in the process. Through his travels, Neary has heard too many horror stories about old-school athletes who ignore concussion symptoms in the interest of “putting food on the table” — with little regard for the long-term consequences.

“People are going to have to make decisions,” he noted. “ ‘If I have another 60 or 70 years on this planet, how do I want to live it? Do I want to live it in a wheelchair with somebody feeding me or do I want to be a productive member of society?’ ”

In discussing the perils of pugilism, Neary is quick to point out that the elimination of fighting is a hot-button issue with strong feelings on each side of the debate.

In a sense, he can relate to both.

A scientist by day, avid Toronto Maple Leafs fan by night, Neary has played the game his entire life and still laces up the skates recreationally. His passion and his profession have crossed paths through assisting the Edmonton Oilers, Los Angeles Kings and the Canadian men’s Olympic squad with medical/fitness testing. His work has also taken him to the NHL scouting combine in Toronto for the past four years.

Closer to home, Neary’s son Seamus played hockey as a youngster before launching his football career as a defensive back with the University of Saskatchewan Huskies. As a father and a concussion expert, the elder Neary admits to some concern about the unpredictable elements of contact sports — hockey in particular.

“It’s tough because I’m so passionate about hockey,” he said. “But, with the information I know now and all the research I’ve done, I would be hesitant to send (his own son) into the hockey environment with somebody taking a shot at him, hitting him in the head, using their elbow, that type of thing. The (guilty party) gets a two-minute minor or maybe a five-minute major and maybe kicked out of the game. (The victim) might be kicked out of life. We need to have more respect for our opponent. If I knew that they were controlling the (illegal) hitting and if I knew there was no longer any fighting, then I would probably allow him to play, but the way the situation is right now I would certainly say, ‘We need to reconsider. Let’s take up tennis or golf.’ ”

Over the past eight years, Neary — who has a PhD in exercise physiology — has studied close to 100 concussion cases. More than half of those have been hockey players, including 15 or 20 from the CIS ranks who were part of a study while he was working at the University of New Brunswick.

Based upon his research and knowledge of the sport, Neary applauds the recent measures taken by the NHL, CHL and Hockey Canada to reduce head shots through changes in rules, equipment and — hopefully — attitude.

“All those steps are important to try and make the game safer,” said Neary. “Unfortunately, my own opinion is, you will never take concussions out of the game until we start playing without any hitting. Even then, concussions could still happen. You don’t have to hit your head to get a concussion. You can twist your head around and that whiplash movement will give you a concussion. Until you completely abstain from any hitting you’re going to continue getting concussions in any league, in my opinion.”

That’s not to say Neary advocates removing body contact from hockey. However, he does support improving public awareness about the inherent risks of the game.

“I hate to say this but I think the Sidney Crosby situation has been so helpful,” he said. “When I played hockey back in the ’70s, I remember being knocked out in a game in Grade 12 and I just went and sat on the bench for a few shifts and then I finished the game. A lot has changed since then but I still think we need more education.”

In that respect, Neary also believes that lessons in hockey can be applied to everyday life.

“Some will argue that going to school and falling off the swings will do the same thing,” he noted. “Where do we stop and where do we put people into a bubble or not put people into a bubble? Those are all legitimate arguments. It’s important that our kids grow up with sports, learn the value that you can gain, the camaraderie and all that. But just be very, very sensible when things happen. There are things you can’t do when you have a concussion. If these kids are in junior hockey, playing for the Pats or Moose Jaw or whoever, and they’re taking these bus trips, they’re loud, they’re up late, they’re not recovering. What’s needed is complete rest, no cognitive challenge. I highly recommend that (any student with a concussion) have to take days off of school and the administrators have to come to the realization that it’s a serious thing.”

Neary specializes in exercise fatigue and how the brain and muscles work together, which could help reveal what causes concussions and how to treat them. He also examines the relationship between the head and the heart, with evidence to suggest that concussion problems could make sufferers more susceptible to cardiac issues. Although not in his field of expertise, Neary also agrees with a movement toward greater scrutiny on the impact concussions might have on depression, an area which has come to light following the recent deaths of Rick Rypien, Derek Boogaard and Wade Belak.

With so many angles from which to look at concussions, Neary believes the medical community in some regards is still just scratching the surface.

“Mild-traumatic brain injury or sport-induced concussion is very perplexing,” he added. “Once we know what the physiological mechanisms are, then I think we can move forward. I still think there’s going to be a lot of research in the next little while. I don’t want to say we’re on the tip of the iceberg because I think there’s a lot more known than that. We are starting to put the pieces together.”

[CdnSailor]

Headshots and Hockey: Former ref Kerry Fraser doesn't see a place for fighting

REGINA -- Former NHL referee Kerry Fraser doesn't mince words when it comes to head shots and fighting in hockey.

"It doesn't make sense," Fraser, in town Wednesday night for the NHL Oldtimers Challenge, said when asked if fighting belongs in the game today and in the future.

"Seeing all of the medical information that the medical community now has on post-concussion syndrome and its long-term effect ... they now know the line toward dimentia and Alzheimer's. If we say, 'Don't hit a guy in the head,' how can we say it's OK to punch a guy in the head?

"I'm hopeful they would consider very quickly to eliminate that end of it, but it's going to be slow in coming."

Fraser called more than 2,000 NHL games, including 12 Stanley Cup final series. He maintained throughout his 30-year career that player protection and safety was foremost on his mind. He said the rules set by the league were in place and it was an official's job to enforce to those rules, which have experienced several changes over the decades.

"Through the 1970s, '80s and '90s, the game evolved," he explained. "There were things that occurred during each era, negative influences, that had to be taken from the game. Everything from brawling to stick work to obstruction. Now, the snowball has rolled down the hill to the point where we have the worst epidemic I have ever seen and the most dangerous I have ever seen, and that is the contact to the head.

"Players are instinctively going high to finish checks."

Fraser lauded Brendan Shanahan, the NHL's head disciplinarian, with the action he took during the pre-season and early in the regular season. Fraser also applauded Shanahan's willingness to educate players on the reasons for the suspensions and for the video explanations of why the play in question arrived at its end result.

However, Fraser admitted Shanahan's stance has softened somewhat in recent weeks.

Fraser was especially miffed at non-calls and the league's turning of a blind eye when he watched the Stanley Cup playoffs this past summer and saw questionable hits to the head.

"There were some wicked hits to the head and there were excuses made as to why those players weren't suspended by (NHL director of hockey operations) Colin Campbell," Fraser said.

Fraser's primary example was the hit the Vancouver Canucks' Raffi Torres laid on the Chicago Blackhawks' Brent Seabrook. The defenceman was looking back for a rolling puck behind his net when Torres lined him up and laid him out.

"Rather than just check him and separate him from the puck, (Torres) launched up into (Seabrook's) head and caught him directly in the head," Fraser said. "It knocked (Seabrook) out, concussed. It knocked (Seabrook) out of two games and it probably should have been longer.

"The rationale for no suspension, even though Torres was a repeat offender, was that Seabrook was in the hitting zone and should have known he was going to be hit. That just makes no sense to me."

Fraser noted that players today are bigger, stronger and faster and wear equipment that is structurally more solid than it was 10 or 20 years ago. He also hinted at a lack of respect for the opponent.

He said when he started calling games in the 1980s - an era notoriously known for its hard-nosed hockey - he would hear players give opponents warnings that they were moving in for a big hit.

"They would catch a piece of the other guy and knock him into the glass and it would still make a big noise and the fans would love it," he said. "But they wouldn't try to drive a player who is vulnerable through the boards and hurt him."

Fraser hoped the league would stiffen its penalties for the dangerous hits, more than the allotted two-minute variety. He said player education is where it starts.

"The thing they need to do now is to get the players to start recognizing that dangerous hits and hits to the head are not acceptable," Fraser said.

The NHL Oldtimers faced off against the Regina Police Service on Wednesday, with funds raised going toward the Regina United Way.