There are two related questions that arise as a result of his comeback. 1) Will opponents be out looking to make a name for themselves by gunning for Sid? 2) How long will Sid be able to play before his next, or worse, his last, concussion?
Why so pessimistic? History and psychology. Hockey has already had a death that is suspected to have been brought about by concussions. In 1968, the Minnesota North Stars' Bill Masterson took a bodycheck that caused him to fall backwards to the ice. He struck headfirst. It wasn't a vicious hit. Some even called it 'routine'. Something other than raw force cause Masterson to lose his balance.
At the time, no one in hockey wore helmets. Jacques Plantes had just introduced the goaltender's mask not to be used to protect an already existing injury 9 years earlier. Plantes was frequently derided as being a coward for wearing the mask. His response was comparing tending goal without a mask to skydiving without a parachute. At least one goaltender was still not regularly wearing a mask as late as the 1970's!
Helmets were frowned upon at least as much as masks had been. "We were not allowed to wear helmets. You would get traded if you did. It was a no-no in no uncertain terms. You were a yellow belly if you wore a helmet." -- J.P. Parise, Masterson's teammate in 1967-68. Only Andre Boudrias dared challenge the Minnesota policy -- he was traded the following season to the Chicago Black Hawks.
Apparently, blood sprayed from Masterson's mouth and nose due to the impact with the ice and he is rumoured to have said, "Never again" before passing out. (It is more likely that he passed out immediately.) The impact didn't just cause a brain hemorrhage it damaged his pons, pone of the most ancient parts of the brain involved with the regulation of sleep and breathing. Damage was so extensive doctors couldn't operate and Masterson died two days later.
In the days before Masterson's fatal injury he had suffered another big hit. His head had struck the glass surrounding the playing ice quite hard. Earlier this year, in a "Toronto Star" forensic investigation it has been concluded that Masterson did not die from a brain bruise resulting from hitting the ice. World renowned Toronto neurosurgeon and concussion expert, Dr. Charles Tator, concluded that Masterson died from "second impact syndrome," a rare occurrence where a 2nd concussion happens soon after an initial concussion that never healed, causing rapid and severe brain swelling. "My interpretation is that the seeds of this catastrophic injury were sown days before," said Dr. Tator.
It is not known for certain if the hit against the glass caused this first injury, but it could have. There were signs that Masterson was already injured when his final game began. Here are some facts and quotes uncovered by the Star in its investigation:
- "I’ve never said this to anyone before. I’ve never thought that it had anything to do with that hit. I think he had a (pre-existing) cerebral brain hemorrhage." -- Wren Blair, Minnesota North Stars coach & GM.
- "I saw Bill’s head after he was just checked from behind and it just looked like his eyes were in the back of his head. I thought he was out then and just went fast right down." -- Mavis Managio, Minnesota goalie Cesare Maniago’s wife, who had a clear view of Masterton’s fall from her seat in the stands explaining that the routine bodycheck left him unconscious even before he hit the ice.
- "He had been complaining of headaches. He’d got hit and even that night he said ‘Gee, I’ve really been getting these migraines and they’ve been with me for about a week.’" -- Minnesota goaltender Cesare Maniago of a conversation he had with Masterson while celebrating Maniago's 29th birthday -- the night before Masterson's fatal injury.
- "I’d said to our trainer, ‘Do you ever look at Billy when the game’s on?’ His face is blood red, almost purple. (The trainer) said, ‘Yeah, I notice that too.’ I said, ‘I wonder if we could have him checked. There’s something wrong.’" -- Wren Blair (again)
- Carl Johnson, Assistant GM of Minnesota’s farm team in Memphis, said he was told that Masterton had blacked out while on line rushes during practice.
- "I really believe he was injured before the fatal blow. I know that in our training camp he got hit hard a couple of times. And he got hit a few games very hard at the NHL level. His aggressiveness got him." and "He wasn’t the most talented guy in the world but he really wanted to play. . . . He wanted it badly. I’ve never seen a person work so hard. He’d never show when he got hurt. He never laid down." -- John Muckler, head coach of the North Stars' farm team in Memphis and subsequent NHL coach with the Edmonton Oilers.
- "My mother, before she died, talked about it. He was having some headaches. My feeling is that he may have gotten a minor concussion playing or practising on some other day . . . and when he got hit the second time, he had that head whip and when that happens, you can go unconscious in that split second before you fall." -- Bill Masterson's son Scott, a former professional kickboxing champion who was 3 at the time of his father's death.
- "I’ve always thought of this after, that when he complained (of headaches) at least he could have put on a helmet for a couple of days. But it was frowned on, really." -- Masterson's 1967-68 teammate, Wayne Connolly.
"The Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy is awarded annually to the National Hockey League player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to ice hockey. The winner is selected by a poll of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association after each team nominates one player in competition. It is often awarded to a player who has come back from career- or even life-threatening illness or injury."
It's ironic that perseverance is exactly what killed Masterson. Athletes have two reasons to ignore injuries, even serious ones. First, they are afraid that they will lose their jobs. This is a reasonable fear as players in various sports have lost their regular job when another player excelled in their absence. Second, sports culture is steeped deeply in machismo. If you're hurt, you're soft. If you wear protection, you're weak. If you acknowledge pain, you don't want to win enough. This obviously irrational and self-destructive culture has to be changed, but good luck with that! Culture change of any kind is difficult and beliefs this deeply ingrained are almost impossible to displace.
To Crosby's credit, he took his sweet time in coming back. He had the benefit of better medical understanding of brain injuries than his predecessors. Ian Laperriere. Marc Savard. Pat LaFontaine. Eric Lindros. There have been a great many NHL players, many of them stars or super-stars, whose career ended or was severely curtailed by repeated concussions. Most, if not all, came back too soon and were knocked back out of the game in short order. Also, it seems as though Crosby's doctors may have made breakthroughs in the treatment of concussions, so maybe he won't be as fragile as those that have gone before. Or, maybe the treatment isn't that miraculous and the absence of symptoms doesn't imply he is injury-free. We don't know. We won't know until it is a matter of hindsight.
Going back to those 2 questions, will players gun for Crosby and will Crosby be able to last... I don't like the most probable answers. Most players won't use Crosby's possible frailty as an excuse to headhunt, but some will. The ones that will are the ones that tend to dole out 'illegal' injuries in general. They also tend to be marginal players that wouldn't have jobs if they couldn't be used to neutralize or 'take out' the opposing team's skilled players. So yes, I think Sid is coming back with a big fat target on his back. His absence has been bad for the NHL in terms of press, publicity and profits. Some minimum-salary goon is going to put his own tenuous job over the health of the game and the industry by taking Crosby out. It's just a matter of time.
The real question then becomes "How will Crosby's body be able to handle violent checking?" I was highly doubtful that Crosby would ever be the same player he was before his injuries. History shows that players' skills have declined due to brain injury. Crosby's primary talent is being able to 'see the ice' better than anyone else on the planet. According to reports of his play during practice Crosby's skills remain as fine as they have ever been, which I find astonishing and miraculous. I guess it remains to be seen whether this ability to excel in practice will translate to success during games.
Still, I have serious doubts about the ability of the human brain to take this kind of punishment over and over. In fact, I'll be surprised if Crosby plays more than another 25 games in the NHL, regardless of the level of play he can achieve. Between intentional hits and accidental hits something will test Crosby's ability to handle physical play, and soon! I hope for his sake, the sake of everyone who cares about him and for the sake of the continued success of the NHL that Crosby has a long and storied career still ahead of him. I just find it hard to believe that we're going to get that fairy tale ending. Either way, it's a pretty good bet that hockey fans will enjoy every game Crosby plays from tonight until his retirement. Again, let's hope that's a long, long time.
