[Auguste Bartholdi]

As hockey fans, what say you about not being able to play with concussion? Ice hockey players had them in the 70s without knowing and they kept on playing. Nor will they stop, say, boxers from boxing (afaik). I say let them play if they want to, if there's seemingly nothing wrong!

(While at the same time I can perfectly well understand that safety ultimately IS more important than sports...)

It's hard to say. I was never sidelined with a concussion, but I'm sure I suffered some minor ones due to the resulting headache for the rest of the game and few days afterwards (not to mention the atrocious memory nowadays ). But obviously we are in no position to judge just how bad the pros are getting them. The game is faster now then it was in the 70's, not to mention harder pads and everyone being much stronger and bigger. The only reason it happened in the 70's was because there was no attention to it, so I'm sure many players were playing with terrible headaches back then without knowing the long term effects that have been discovered in the last decade.

[Unstoppable Judge]

Tomorrow's Rangers/Penguins matchup is lining up to be the most exciting game of the regular season. I can't wait to see how Syd the Kid comes back, and how the red-hot Pens deal with the best team in the East.

[Latisha Fry]

I just think it must be frustrating for a player to be sidelined for very long times with nothing else seemingly wrong than possibly headache. That's all. I think they should be given a chance to play if they wanted. For teh entertainment~! They should be given a chance if they are foolish enough to play with concussion. I mean, boxing / MMA / stuff is allowed, even!

Speaking of Stamkos, well, he's a natural. Remember his short-ish struggle in the last season? I watched some game then, and during a break, some expert there said that Stamkos needs to find new ways to score, that he is always played off from the point where he scored most of his goals. At the next game, his slump was gone, and he has been scoring the most in the league ever since. I like to think that Stamkos took this advice.

Oh, and I can't bother to check if Radim Vrbata is still on the tempo of getting 40. He's never scored even 30 - he's having an unbelievable season.

One more thing: I actually laughed out loud when I saw Turco from the NHL.com highlights... 1-0: his stick flies to somewhere far away for who knows what reason, and he goes "wtf" as the (kicking motion, have to admit) goal is announced. 2-0: He fails to cover the standing puck, and again his stick is somewhere who knows where -> easy goal. 3-0: break-away, but it seems like he was caught off-balance anyway; easy goal for Shannon. Time for the goaltender change! Talk about those insecure random veteran acquisitions that I ranted on page 2. What's wrong in even TRYING OUT a possibly promising AHL goalie?! (Oh, btw, Tampa won that game 1-6, and they forced Rolie get there again played young Dustin Tokarski who played an awesome game! Also compare Lehner to Auld, Bachman to Raycroft, MacDonald to Conklin, Thiessen to Johnson, Peters to Boucher etc. to see the pattern. Too bad Holtby hasn't gotten but one rough start to this season, and Cedrick Desjardins of the Avs none even when Varlamov struggled early on in the season. )

[Lindsay Dunn]

I just think it must be frustrating for a player to be sidelined for very long times with nothing else seemingly wrong than possibly headache. That's all. I think they should be given a chance to play if they wanted. For teh entertainment~! They should be given a chance if they are foolish enough to play with concussion. I mean, boxing / MMA / stuff is allowed, even!

I think you need to read up on the other short term effects of a concussion. Headache yes, but also vomiting, dizziness, balance issues and loss of general motor functions. Not to mention the pain of light. It much worse then "just a headache".

In fact reading up on those symptoms, I'm almost sure I've had a few

[Roisan Sweeney]

I've read up on concussions, I've had them myself (hit in the head with a stick and bat, fell down a flight of stairs in our old house when a kid and hit my head on the downstairs tile after a babysitter scared me [censored]less hiding behind the wall around the corner at the top as I was heading up), the NHL's coddling mentality about concussions is let's just say a mixed message because hockey is inherently a physical sport, the faster it is, the faster the shots, the faster the players, the more opportunity to speed through the neutral zone, the more chances of injuries. This spot-picking demon du jour of headshots is nothing more than a reaction to the media, which are also overreacting in the interest of protecting players from a physical sport. While the breadth of symptoms and damage could easily last throughout a player's lifetime, concussions and head trauma are nothing new at all for humans, have been studied extensively in sports and wars, hockey players have a good grasp of the possibility of short and long term injury by playing such a physical sport, especially at the professional level. While I think there's some reasonable tweaks that can be made to slow the game down, or defer checking momentum back to the hitting player (back to softer pads rather than the fricken body armor), blowing up the league over concussion hysteria has little positive outcome -- pretty much entirely negative.

[Bereket Fekadu]

But nothing good can come of the game's best player's career ending 15 years too early because of a few hits to the head. That's bad for the league, which is bad for the players, which is bad for the media, which is bad for the fans. I agree that the hysteria is a little out of control at the moment, and I am afraid that the league will do something rash, but still, I don't want to see any player, either my favorites or those that are important to the league, forced to quit because of injury, just because 'it's a physical game'. I think the overblown hysteria has a lot to do with the NFL and its concussion issues.

[Rodney C]

^ That is what happens. Sidney Crosby could get twisted around, blow his ACL/MCL completely, or have knee problems like Steve Yzerman had, along with the puck to his eye, Yzerman's will last him a lifetime even with a successful osteotomy, and his career is over, with remnants of the injury persisting further along, people have to understand players accept by playing hockey at this level there's the potential for serious injury, especially in a sport where you can beat each other to a pulp fighting.

The same thing already happened to the NFL where they've added these ticky tack rules to "protect" players, especially QB's, but that's not stopping injuries from accumulating, it's a feel-good pie-in-the-sky reaction induced by the media trying to idealize a sport without knowing much about what it entails and the level of acceptance a player has of the potential short and long term effects by playing it.

Note: If the NHL were really serious about safety they would have dropped the body armor pads which allow players to crush others into the boards/glass and magnify hits at high speed, rather than the limiting, yet possibly strong checks that occur with normal soft pads, but that's not even remotely a consideration. The issue for the NHL is merely about containing the media hysteria, and why would anyone expect anything else given how much money is spent and credence is given for marketing? For the NHL it's all about their image and the media can easily disrupt it, which in turn would get politicians involved, which in turn would damage the league.

Edits: I'm sure most already know I'm not a big fan of the rules tacked on in the same of preventing injuries/concussions so I'll try to keep myself modest in responses.

[RAww DInsaww]

I'm not sure I was disagreeing with you about those semi-effective rules. But I think we've already established that the culprit is dirty play. And who's in control of that? The players, and not the league.

[Kellymarie Heppell]

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/breaking/s_786680.html

[Alexis Estrada]

Lundqvist not starting makes things seriously less interesting.

[Tarka]

Great. Bruins losing by 4-1 again, Thomas loses more energy and confidence, everyone grows more frustrated, and if Ottawa wins tomorrow night, the Bruins fall to 7th place in the conference. Awesome. I just hope Bryz can save my fantasy team, along with the 3 Florida Panthers on my team. At least my fantasy team can cheer me up.

Also, Crosby got an assist, which was decent. Good to see his return be somewhat successful, and interesting to see Pit really put some pressure on NYR.

[ONLY ME!!!!]

[censored] well good job on playing no defense Flyers, left Bryz high and dry on two goals in less than a minute. Now it's time to get angry and put the Islanders back in their place.

[Tarka]

Tell me about it. I lost 5 potential shutout points.

[Adrian Powers]

Tell me about it. I lost 5 potential shutout points.

6 and 1/2 measly minuets left and the Flyers blew it and continue to play like [censored]. If they lose this game I'll club a baby seal.

[brandon frier]

Well, I'm glad the baby seals are safe.

NYR really coulda used Lundqvist today.

[Jason Wolf]

Well, I'm glad the baby seals are safe.

For now.............

Just happy they won and Bryz has continued to play well, even set a Flyers record for longest shutout streak.

[Jenna Fields]

Also, Crosby got an assist, which was decent. Good to see his return be somewhat successful, and interesting to see Pit really put some pressure on NYR.

Letang's return was also decent. 1 assist and (so far) +5.

[Roisan Sweeney]

Letang's return was also decent. 1 assist and (so far) +5.

It's great to have Letang back! I thought the Pens played fairly well last night. They still have a lot of rust to knock off before the playoffs come. Also, this "allowing players to clutch, grab, and obstruct" thing really has me worried for the Penguins' style of play come playoff time. It wasn't bad last night, but in general, it's really starting to be allowed in the league again, and that has me nervous. For the teams who rely so much on speed and skill, it can really hinder their chances.

[Amanda Furtado]

Bruins in a slump makes me feel better about the Canucks in their current slump.

Those Sedins better wake up soon. I don't think they have gotten a single point the last 8 games.

[Dan Stevens]

If the Canucks are in a slump, then I don't know what I would call the Bruins current awful 3 months. They have around a -30 goal differential these past 2 months, injuries galore, are well below .500, and will fall to 7th place in the Eastern Conference tonight. Awesome.

Edit: Below .500 in that time...

[Beulah Bell]

Some good goaltending throughout last night, but as far as I could gather from the NHL.com highlights, Elliott played the best even though he let two in. Some of his saves were absolutely insane, and it seemed that he had to stop many more tough shots than other goalies. Cam Ward stopping 40/40 can't be considered a bad effort either, though... (By the way, that Carolina play-by-play guy annoys the heck out of me with his HE SCOOOOOORESes, CAM WARD SAYS NOs and HEY HEY WHAT DO YOU SAYs. The same [censored] over and over again! Besides I don't even like his voice: I think he sounds even more affected than most. In a bad way. Usually I have nothing against such - I tend to like that kind of American showmanship.)

Looking forward for Edmonton beating Calgary tonight. In my opinion the Flames shouldn't make it to the playoffs this year either because the team is pretty badly built. My friend and I had an inside joke about a crazy visionary GM who thought that Tanguay, Jokinen and Iginla can carry a whole NHL team in 2011. Now that they actually almost manage, with big help from Glencross & co., they should trade them for Gomez, Connolly and Stajan or something. Oh wait, Stajan they've already got...

At the same time I hope that both Jets and Caps win, or at least get to the playoffs. Would be awesome for Winnipeg in their reincarnate season, especially because I don't think no-one saw them playing this well with roster like that. Caps still has a solid core (although IMO not as good as a year and two back) and should go to the playoffs at the very least. For once I'd hope that they got some success.

[dell]

Nashville has the worst Announcers. Bar none. Boston comes close, still pretty bad.

I know since they're official announcers for that team there will be some bias, but they take it to the extreme. And outright make fun of the other team.

[Josh Trembly]

Boston announcers (TV anyway, the radio is actually pretty decent) are really bad. Most of the time when I'm not watching the game on mute (I do often watch the game on mute because they're so annoying) I just end up saying "Shut up Jack, it was a penalty!"

Bs now in 7th place in the conference. Awesome.

[Juanita Hernandez]

Boston announcers (TV anyway, the radio is actually pretty decent) are really bad. Most of the time when I'm not watching the game on mute (I do often watch the game on mute because they're so annoying) I just end up saying "Shut up Jack, it was a penalty!"

Bs now in 7th place in the conference. Awesome.

Bruins have two games in hand, though. All it takes is one win.

[Vincent Joe]

Nashville has the worst Announcers. Bar none. Boston comes close, still pretty bad.

I know since they're official announcers for that team there will be some bias, but they take it to the extreme. And outright make fun of the other team.

Ugh yes, Pete Weber/Terry Crisp are awful, and yes, as mentioned Jack Edwards is awful as well. The Sharks announcers Hahn/Remenda whine way too much about officiating, a far cry from their respectable losing years with KICU/anolog where their play by play and colour were decent and I'd say with a bit of tough love on the Sharks. Ever since I started buying Centre Ice in the states around 2000-2001 I've tended to favour Canadian broadcasts which has only become more-so watching the transition of bad on FOX and ESPN/ABC to worse on NBC/OLN/VS/FSN/CSN/others.

I can't wait til the playoffs roll around and the main TSN announcer I end up hearing is Gord Miller.