Monday, April 16, 2012

Prominent neurosurgeon Charles Tator warns Senators captain Daniel Alfredsson against early return | Sports | National Post

A renowned Canadian neurosurgeon said the spate of headshots seen over the weekend in a handful of National Hockey League playoff games was "disheartening" given the steps that seem to have been made in raising concussion awareness this season.
Dr. Charles Tator, a neurosurgeon at Toronto Western Hospital who volunteers with ThinkFirst, a non-profit group aimed at brain and spinal cord injury prevention, said he watched a few of the games, and caught highlights of the others. Two suspensions have already been announced.
"It really is disheartening to see the level of violence and aggression that was displayed over the weekend, and in so many games," Tator said on Monday. "I thought we were making progress earlier in the season, but there's definitely been slippage. And it just points out that the fact we need an even better effort on the part of the professionals to improve the game and prevent injuries.
"Safety has taken a backseat in these playoffs."
On Sunday, the NHL announced it was suspending New York Rangers forward Carl Hagelin for three games for driving his elbow into Ottawa Senators captain Daniel Alfredsson's head Saturday night. Alfredsson left the game and has since confirmed he suffered a concussion, but he has also been listed as a game-time decision for Game 3 of Ottawa's Eastern Conference quarter-final series with New York on Monday.

Tator advised against returning to the lineup so quickly.
"It's not what we recommend," he said. "We recommend that there should be a six-step process that you go through after a concussion to determine whether you're ready to return to play."
That process requires one day in between levels to assess whether the player is healthy enough to return to play. The first level is complete physical and mental rest, and the final step is return to play.
"So if you have 24 hours between steps, it really means a week off," Tator said. "So, in our view, to try to give the brain enough opportunity to recover, we recommend a week."
Alfredsson has already missed time due to a concussion this season, after an earlier incident with the Rangers in October.
"He's probably doing himself a disservice by coming back too early," he said.
NHL disciplinarian Brendan Shanahan reportedly has hearings scheduled with two more players on Tuesday. He will meet with Pittsburgh Penguins forward James Neal twice, both for hits that targeted players with pre-existing concussion issues, having launched himself at Philadelphia Flyers forwards Claude Giroux and Sean Couturier during a cartoonishly violent game on Sunday.
"Our biggest stars continue to be wounded in the brain by the game," Tator said. "The game needs to change. We really need a big change in the game if we're going to preserve the game."

http://sports.nationalpost.com/2012/04/16/prominent-neurosurgeon-warns-senators-captain-daniel-alfredsson-against-early-return/