Marc-Edouard Vlasic comments show the NHL concussion protocol is still lacking
Recent comments made by San Jose Sharks defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic reveal that the NHL’s protocol for allowing players to resume play after suffering a concussion still needs some more reps.
In an article on the topic written by Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News, San Jose Sharks defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic shared his opinion about the current state of the NHL’s concussion protocol. Given the facts of the situation, it’s hard to argue with him.
Vlasic suffered the concussion during the Sharks’ Nov. 1 game against the Nashville Predators and was removed from the game. He missed San Jose’s game against the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday, Nov. 4 as well.
Vlasic says that he took the exam required for clearance to resume hockey activities over the following weekend and passed it with “flying colors.” He resumed practice the following week and has spent at least 20 minutes on the ice during all three of the Sharks’ games since.
Vlasic’s comments on the protocol’s test are of the most interest:
"“It’s just a written test,” Vlasic said of the written exam that took him about 45 minutes to complete. “In order for me to fail that, I’d have to be in a coma. … The baseline cannot show how I’m feeling.“I could easily do it if I’m concussed,” Vlasic later added."
Vlasic’s comments are pretty spot on. The written test is administered to players during the preseason when players are at their most healthy, and the future results are compared to that in order to see whether or not there is deviation outside of the league’s established parameters.
While it’s unknown exactly how much deviation is allowable, it’s obvious that Vlasic believes that failing the test would take much more than a concussion.
In fairness to the NHL, most of the factors used to identify concussions that are currently in use depend heavily on the feedback and honesty of the subject of the examination. Under the current system, there will always be the chance that a player is hiding symptoms and lying about their state in order to get back onto the ice. That doesn’t mean that the NHL has to make it so easy to do so, however.
Additionally, if the NHL’s priority in having a concussion protocol is truly player safety, not playing lip service to that while still prioritizing keeping its best talent on the ice through protocol weaknesses like limits on spotters’ abilities to remove players and having medical personnel on the team payroll conduct the evaluations, then it would make sense for the NHL to be doing everything in their power to advance the science on the subject.
That’s exactly the opposite of what the NHL has done, however. The NHL has used the courts and other means to bully concussion researchers studying the brains of deceased hockey players at Boston University at nearly every turn. It’s gotten so egregious that the NHL has actually tried to deceive a federal court in one of its briefs.
Later in the interview, Vlasic summed up the NHL’s concussion protocol in a succinct statement which seems to be dripping with sarcasm.
"“It’s great. It’s what the league wanted, so it must be great.”"
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Vlasic’s comment shows the current dichotomy between the NHL’s interest and the best interest of its players. Until those two interests align within the league’s concussion protocol, there is more work to be done in that zone.