While sports may be fun and exciting, they are also extremely dangerous. Nobody knows that more than Richard Zednik of the Florida Panthers. During the Panthers game at Buffalo last night, Olli Jokinen’s skate blade accidentally sliced Zednik’s carotid artery (neck), nearly killing him. After watching the video, I nearly broke down. It was painfully disturbing to see. The AP reported that Zednik underwent emergency surgery to repair the artery and that he remained in stable condition. The team site has a full updated report.

For some reason, the league decided to finish the contest, a 5-3 Sabres win.

Zednik’s injury was the most dangerous and life threatening since goaltender Clint Malarchuk suffered a similar injury in 1989. Coincidentally, Malarchuk was the Sabres netminder in that game, which was also played in Buffalo.

Thankfully, despite suffering the cut to his jugular vein, Malarchuk was able to leave the ice with the assistance of the trainer, who saved his life. I do not recommend watching this video if you do not like the site of blood, but I am forced to link Malarchuk’s incident here and, more recently, Zednik’s life-altering episode here.

I believe that the NHL will have its hands full, trying to handle Zednik’s issue on a larger scale.

Should the NHL follow youth and college hockey rules and mandate cages?

Currently, players have to wear a helmet that protects the head and skull, but not the neck, eyes, nose, or mouth.

Many players have improvised over the years and now don a visor that protects the upper half of the face (eyes), including Alexander Ovechkin and 12 Dallas Stars skaters.

I quickly glanced at Wikipedia’s “Hockey Helmet” and found this interesting piece of information.

“In 2002, the British Journal of Sports medicine published a study identifying the protection offered against concussions between the half-face shield and the full face shield. The use of a full face shield compared with half face shield significantly reduced the playing time lost because of concussion, suggesting that concussion severity may be reduced by the use of a full face shield.

Although Zednik experienced an extremely rare yet dangerous encounter, other calamites have plagued hockey for a long time.

In fact, concussions have also overwhelmed football, rugby, soccer and many other contact sports.

But, Eric Lindros and Simon Gagne will tell you that hockey players have seen the worst of traumatic brain injuries.

Throughout his controversial career, Lindros had sustained around 10 concussions, preventing him from being considered a lock for the Hall of Fame.

After 13 marvelous seasons in which he amassed 865 points over 760 games, Lindros officially announced his retirement from the NHL on Nov. 8, 2007. Two days later, I pondered the issue and decided that, in my opinion, the league should elect Lindros to the Hall as it did with Scott Stevens and Mark Messier.

This season Simon Gagne became the latest Flyers member to suffer concussions. This past Sunday, the eight-year veteran suffered his third of the season. Although he is only day-to-day, Gagne should be very careful about returning before he has fully recovered. The team website said that Gagne’s season is not necessarily over.

Regardless, if Gagne wants to take a humongous risk and come back early, that’s his call. One phone call from Lindros and Gage should quickly change his mind. Concussions are not like sprained ankles, or broken pinkies. They are incredibly dangerous and potentially life threatening. The best form of recovery is rest.

According to Mayoclinic.com, “Rest is the best recovery technique. Healing takes time. For headaches, acetaminophen (Tylenol, others) or ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin, others) can be used. Avoid aspirin, as it can increase the risk of bleeding.”

Rest does not necessarily ensure a reduction of the symptoms.

Muhealth.org says, “Post-concussion syndrome may occur in some people. The syndrome generally consists of a persistent headache, dizziness, irritability, memory changes and vision changes. The person may seem overly emotional or unable to control their emotions. Some people experience unexplained depression. Difficulty with concentration or problems with thinking and planning ahead also are reported. Symptoms may begin weeks or even months after the initial injury. Although the symptoms generally resolve over time, some people need a rehabilitation specialist to oversee a program for recovery.”

Commissioner Gary Bettman does not need me to inform him of the dangers of ice hockey. Richard Zednik's condition speaks for itself. How Bettman resolves the matter will greatly effect the NHL, grandfathering in current members of the league and altering the future players's helmets to cages.

After watching Zednik's dangerous neck slashing, the future should be now.

 

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