NHL 'trying to be as effective as possible' with concussion spotters

PALM BEACH, Fla. – When NHL concussion spotters pull a player from a game to get tested for a head injury, they’re not doing so to intentionally harm his team. They’re trying to help the athlete and make sure he stays healthy.

“There are no negative reasons,” said Hockey Hall of Famer Chris Pronger, who now works with the league’s Department of Player Safety. “There has been hours and hours and hours of video watched by doctors and trainers and the concussion staff on that committee to log in and track and put together this protocol of visible signs so that – it is not an exact science but it’s the best we can do under the current knowledge that we have as it relates to the protocol etc. Will it continue to evolve? I’m sure it will as more and more information becomes readily available.”

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After the second day of the league’s Board of Governors meeting, the NHL indicated it was fine with the spotters but said it’ll talk about them again over the All-Star break in late January.

“We have from the medical experts the signs of concussion that require an evaluation that we’re looking for,” NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said. “This isn’t a machine, this is individuals who have to make judgments and using education and having proper procedures and having the use of technology with a room in New York in communication with the building we’re trying to be as effective as possible.”

Recently, the league’s concussion spotters received some criticism when Edmonton Oilers superstar Connor McDavid hit his chin on the ice at a game against the Minnesota Wild and was pulled for concussion testing. He did not test positive for a concussion, and the Oilers eventually lost the game 2-1 in overtime.

Before 2016-17, the NHL announced an enhanced concussion spotter program that gave Central League Spotters the power to remove players from games if they exhibited signs of a head injury.

Even though spotting a concussion isn’t an exact science, the NHL governors seemed to believe that this program is an important step towards further protecting a player.

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“We have so much more knowledge now from the doctor’s side of things, from the trainers, from the players themselves and yet there’s so much more to learn about it and the league is being so active in trying to nip this and figure it out and what’s best for the athletes and the athlete’s safety is always priority to the league. It always has been,” Oilers partner and vice chairman Wayne Gretzky said. “Are we going to learn more in time? Absolutely. Is everybody perfectly happy when your best player gets pulled off? I’m sure people are going ‘oh my god, where has he gone?’ But it’s protocol and if that’s what the rules are then you have to live by them.”

Some see the best way to account for concussion spotters, and the possibility a player can get pulled from the ice beyond team control, is to not complain and let them do their jobs.

“It’s like any injury. If there’s an injury that’s occurred, whether it’s ankle, leg, we see guys go off blocking shots and stuff,” Winnipeg Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff said. “You treat it like that and it’s part of the protocol and part of the importance that is placed on player safety.”

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Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @joshuacooper

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