I hope Brayden Schenn really is okay. He says he feels lucky that he wasn’t injured more seriously the other night when Tom Wilson buried him into the boards. (Wilson, by the way, has a hearing with the Department of Player Safety this afternoon over the hit.)
Here are some facts:
1. Schenn: “I really don’t remember much of the play at all.” (via the Daily News)
2. The Flyers, for some reason, did not give Schenn a concussion baseline test, despite the fact that his head too the entire brunt of the impact against the boards.
3. Schenn says he feels fine — he’s had a concussion before and he doesn’t have the same headaches or symptoms.
4. “The signs and symptoms of a concussion can be subtle and may not be immediately apparent.”
5. Schenn will play tonight — 48 hours after suffering this hit — against the Blue Jackets.
6. Bill Daly, the NHL’s deputy commissioner, said this less than a month ago: “We are completely satisfied with the responsible manner in which the League and the Players’ Association have managed player safety over time, including with respect to head injuries and concussions.”
This is absolute insanity. Maybe Schenn doesn’t have a concussion. That’s clearly the hope. But scroll up and watch that play one more time and then try to say with a straight face that the Flyers are making the right move by not even testing him for a brain injury. Or that the NHL takes head injuries seriously.
