Dunno if this is old news....

http://espn.go.com/nhl/story/_/id/73451 ... n-symptoms

Fuck...

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Shit. I'm not going off the deep-end yet. He passed all tests required to ensure he was 100% before he returned so I don't think anyone is at fault here.

However, it does make me wonder... are some people just never "right" again after a head injury, even when it appears that a full recovery has been made? I didn't see any hits in that game, even the collision with Kunitz, that were any worse than hits that he took in prior games.

We have lots to still figure out with this type of injury.

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- Dman 29

Next time Sid goes on tour I'll be sure to get tickets.

Seriously, this team will be fine until he is healed. Get the captain squared away and when he comes back, center focus on the cup.

Hopefully Staal's lower body injury is something he can play through.

Hopefully , his getting healthy is as simple as that. I'm not so sure though, at this point.

What did i say guys?? Should have waited until after late Jan at the earliest, if not playoff time if you're talking this year. the slightest jar will now set him in flux.

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Yes, the greatest hockey player in the world should have listened to a random guy on a message board instead of the large team of world-renowned physicians he had at his disposal.

Great thinking.

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Nothing personal Beth, but I gotta trust the docs over you unless you're a concussion specialist. If he passed every post-concussion test known to man and the experts felt he was ready to come back then I give them the benefit of the doubt. Otherwise, how will anyone ever know when it's Ok to come back.

"Alright Sid, you've been symptom-free for 126 days and it just feels like now is the time to head back out and skate, so you're cleared to play again."

That just doesn't cut it, and there's no way to say he still wouldn't have been in this boat even if waiting until late Jan or even sitting until the 2012 season. I would guess that doctors typically work on facts and not feelings, so unless there's a concussion test out there that was missed, they did what they could a the time.

Granted, in 10 years when we know more about these things, there will likely be a battery of tests that will give doctors more info to determine when the right time is. But, until those exist, I don't see how they can operate on hunches.

I just have this feeling, though, that Sid might be a test case for some of those more advanced tests, and wouldn't be at all surprised to see him sit for a good long time or perhaps hang 'em up.

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- Dman 29

The Pens may have fucked up the Caps/Lightning games last year as far as diagnosis, but they've done everything picture perfect after that.......in fact what they've done since then is take the single most extensive, careful, and conservative approach in the history of sports as far as treating a player for a concussion. About the only thing they did in this case that I didn't like is the failure to keep his ice time more limited to start.

Thankfully we have another guy on the roster who is a top 3 on the planet type.

Im no specialist but watched 3 Flyers in the past 10 years lose their careers because they took a bump, successively after a few diagnosed consussions. I gave specifics why the Pens should have erred on the side of caution with many NHL player case studies to mention......let the brain heal....dr's diagnosis or not. They should have let him sit the year. Now he's really in a pickle.

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