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OHL: Majors captain Percy suffers setback, Brace injured

If the growing awareness around concussions in hockey has taught us anything, it's that there's no exact timetable for a return — every player and every trauma is different.

Mississauga Majors captain Stuart Percy is no exception having suffered from concussion-like symptoms after being hit during a Dec. 11 game against the Kitchener Rangers. At the time of the initial injury, Percy was thought to have suffered whiplash along with a sprained wrist and cut cheek, though signs of a concussion soon followed.

Last week, after finally being symptom-free, the 18-year-old tried some physical activity, only to have the headaches return.

"He was feeling better last week so he tried some physical activity and he developed a headache," said Majors head coach and GM James Boyd. "So we go back to the start of the (concussion) protocol.

"He's been inactive all week, so we have to wait for the symptoms to disappear. Who knows (when he'll return)? But we're being careful with it."

There speculation at the OHL's trade deadline was that the Toronto Maple Leafs — who selected Percy 25th overall in 2011 NHL draft — had asked the Majors to shut their star defenceman down for the season. Boyd said those rumours are untrue.

"The way that (his recovery) has been progressing, there's a possibility that maybe he's not back," said Boyd. "But our doctors have not made that decision."

The injury was Percy's third of the 2011-12 campaign and second concussion of the season after he was sent head-first into the boards by a hit from behind during a game against Plymouth in October.

Adding to Boyd's woes is the possibility of also losing top scorer Riley Brace to a possible concussion after the forward was injured in the Majors' 3-1 loss to the visiting Saginaw Spirit on Sunday. Brace went down in a scrum in front of Spirit goalie Clint Windsor though no one saw clearly what happened and video replay proved inconclusive.

"He got bumped in the head," said Boyd of Brace. "I was looking at the replay and I couldn't see what happened... it looked like a pretty innocent play.

"The replay started as he was falling, so I don't know if he hit his head on the net or what — you can't tell on the video."

Brace, who leads the Majors with 25 goals and 34 assists in 46 games, spent a few minutes motionless on the ice as team athletic therapist Ivan Bokanovic tended to him. Very clearly dazed, Brace eventually skated off the ice with the help of teammates and went straight to the dressing room.

"He was in (the dressing room) answering questions," said Boyd. "The (concussion) protocol begins."

Sunaya Sapurji is the Junior Hockey Editor at Yahoo! Sports.
Email: sunaya@yahoo-inc.com | Twitter @Sunayas (photo: OHL Images).