The New York Times asserts that one particular aspect of the aftermath of the recent Brad Stuart hit on Gabriel Landeskog was troubling.
Immediately afterward, Landeskog skated off and needed assistance to get to the dressing room. He remained out of the game and was examined by a doctor, in accordance with N.H.L. protocols on head injuries, until late in the second period. He passed the examination and returned to play part of that period and all of the third.
But in Edmonton last Monday, two days after the hit, Landeskog did not play. The team said he was out with head and leg injuries. He continued to travel with the team to Vancouver and Calgary, but he remained out of the lineup.
The Avalanche followed N.H.L. protocol in allowing Landeskog to return after he passed the SCAT2 evaluation exam, the standard for on-the-spot concussion assessment. But the latest research suggests that players suspected of having a concussion should be kept out of games no matter how they do on the SCAT2.
The team has not announced that Landeskog sustained a concussion but did place him on the injured reserve list Friday with a head injury. There is no timetable for his return. It is well known, however, that concussion victims sometimes do not show symptoms until days after an incident.
"When it comes to evaluating concussions, SCAT2 or any of those sideline screening tests really have no reliability," said Dr. Paul S. Echlin, a concussion specialist and researcher in Burlington, Ontario, who has done two recent studies of concussions in hockey. "If you see it happen and you see the reaction, then you don't let the player go back in. That's the worst thing you can do, expose him to a second or third hit that can be really dangerous."
Last November in Zurich, scientists and sports administrators gathered for the Fourth International Consensus Conference on Concussion in Sport to review the latest research. According to Ken Dryden, the Hall of Fame goalie and former member of Canada's Parliament who attended the event, "the Zurich conference agreed to a clear, certain message: 'When in doubt, sit them out.'"
That is not yet the standard in the N.H.L., where teams and the players are ever eager to shake off injuries, even from blows to the head, and get back in the game.
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