Repercussions Faced With Growing Number Of Head Injuries, Nhl, Players Revisit Issues Of Helmet Safety

The news was not what he wanted to hear, so New York Islanders right wing Brett Lindros went to another doctor, then to a third and a fourth, hoping to find some shred of hope.

Each time, the diagnosis was grim. The cumulative effects of a series of concussions put him at risk for permanent brain damage if he played hockey again.

Lindros couldn’t believe it. He knew he had experienced memory lapses, making plays and forgetting them before he returned to the bench. And he knew it took longer for the headaches to fade after he sustained his fourth concussion, his third in less than two NHL seasons. But he was only 20, young enough to still think he was invincible. His career was just beginning.

It ended last week, when he reluctantly announced his retirement.

“Each time I got the same answer from each doctor,” said Lindros, whose promise and pedigree - he’s the younger brother of Philadelphia Flyers star Eric Lindros - led the Islanders to trade up and pick him ninth in the 1994 entry draft. “No matter how much I hoped it would be different, it was the same.”

His teammate, defenseman Dennis Vaske, was luckier. Vaske, who was slammed into the boards from behind by Los Angeles Kings forward Eric Lacroix last Nov. 22 and suffered a concussion, was recently cleared to return next fall.

Despite sitting out most of the season and enduring “a real emotional roller coaster” of slow progress punctuated by frustrating relapses, Vaske said he would oppose any attempt by the NHL to set stricter safety standards for helmets in an effort to reduce the occurrence of head injuries.

“Isn’t that the American way, individual preference? Isn’t that in the Constitution?” Vaske said. “If they do come up with something better, from what I’ve gone through, I would consider it, but I don’t think it should be mandatory.”

The frequency of concussions this season has been alarming, even allowing for better diagnosis of such injuries. According to data compiled by a physiologist who tracks injuries for the NHL, players lost more than three times as many games to concussions through March as in the entire 1993-94 season, the last full season. Concussions increased from 41 that cost players 60 games in 1993-94 to more than 50 that resulted in 200 games missed this season. Injuries incurred in April haven’t been tallied.

Besides Lindros and Vaske, the most significant injury was suffered by Kings forward Tony Granato. In the last few years, Michel Goulet of the Chicago Blackhawks and Dave Taylor of the Kings were forced to retire because they were unable to shake the headaches and vertigo caused by repeated concussions.

“When the doctor first asked me, I didn’t think I’d had that many,” said Taylor, who still can’t exercise as strenuously as he did before his last concussion in December, 1993. “But once I thought back and remembered how I’d felt, I figured I must have had eight or 10.”

Concussions used to be - and still may be - ignored by players and not reported because hockey’s macho code calls for stoicism after even the bloodiest injuries. Blows to the head are laughed off as “getting your bell rung.” It’s also common for clubs to hide injuries to keep opponents from exploiting those weaknesses. But there are too many head injuries to hide them anymore.

“You have to take into account evolution of your players and the increased speed and size,” said former NHL defenseman Doug Wilson, now coordinator of player relations and business development for the NHL Players Association. “You also have to factor in that, unlike when I played, players aren’t keeping their sticks down. There was a kind of unwritten code when there were a lot of guys who didn’t wear helmets. There’s a false sense of security now.

“There’s a lot of factors in the equation. You have to have data on why these things are happening. That’s one thing the league has not done. There have been some scary injuries the last few years.”

Brian Burke, the NHL’s director of hockey operations, said head injuries are “a small number of occurrences in terms of the total number of players in the league,” but acknowledged his concern. To him, the answer is simple.

“The primary line of defense is, we’ve got to get the proper headgear on all players in this league,” he said. That he didn’t wear a helmet when he played, “does nothing but prove I was extremely stupid,” he said.

Vaske blamed the increase in head injuries on the NHL’s attempt to cut obstruction penalties. Wilson agreed, saying that when he played, his defense partner could create a moving pick and block opponents from hitting him. That might now draw an interference call.

Burke disagrees with them about the effect of the obstruction directive but said the NHL wants to work with players to reduce head injuries, not argue with them. “We’re extending an olive branch, not a boxing glove,” Burke said.

That branch was extended too late for Brett Lindros. Will there be a remedy before other players’ careers are ended prematurely?