Concussions - NFL vs NHL

I'm not a Dr. but I played one in a skit one time. I think part of it may be that many NHL players are hitting immovable objects like side boards and ice and their helmets are not as impact absorbing as NFL helmets. At least when NFL players hit helmet to helmet there is some give. I've also noticed the worst NFL concussions come when the player hits the turf.

Yeah ammo, I guess I forgot about the helmet construction. Just on outward appearance alone, the NHL helmets seem no more than a shell. and they flop around on their heads loosley. Backstrom too an elbow (intentional - 5 game suspension) from Rene Borque, but many do hit the side boards or the glass.

Good topic. Eric Lindros is another great hockey player who was affected by concussions - his brother also had to retire very young due to concussion symptoms. Derek Boogard from the Wild died last year from pain medication overdose when trying to recover from a concussion. They did studies and his brain was like that of a much older man due to all the concussions he had endured.

Justin Morneau of the Twins used to play hockey growing up in Canada. He suffered multiple concussions growing up. In July 2010 he had a concussion when sliding into 2nd base and hit the guy's knee while sliding. It was right around the AS break. He was having his best year ever. He never played again in 2010 and 2011 he was very limited, maybe played 60 games but he was absolutely terrible. He was on the path to being one of the best 1B in recent memory and now I can't imagine him ever being much of a player again.

I read somewhere (sorry, don't remember where) that the amount of force generated by a hit in the NHL is actually greater than that which is generated by an average hit in the NFL. When that force collides with a wall, it's even more traumatic on the brain. Hockey players are smaller on average of course, but they also move at much faster speeds on skates than anyone could ever move on foot.

I also saw an interview last time I was in Canada with Scotty Bowman, and the topic was Sidney Crosby and other concussions. (It's a national tragedy up there regarding Crosby.) His point was that removing the hand-checking and neutral zone traps in the NHL may have opened up the game, but it also allows guys to get up to dangerous speeds by the time they fly into the corners.

The melon is not made to jiggle - get smacked - and shake around. Very scary stuff.

Hockey is simply a much faster game than football. The guys aren't as powerful as the typical NFL player but they're still top end athletes. Contact in the NHL almost always occurs at full speed. Imagine skating full speed into the corner to get a puck and then being blasted by another player also going at full speed... your body comes to a sudden halt, flies in the opposite direction and then slams into the boards. That scenario happens almost every shift these guys skate. It's a helluva lot of trauma that your body absorbs and I think some guys just can't handle the physicality of it.

What's worse are the open ice collisions where the guy is skating with his head down only to be smoked by another player. Some of those hits are just brutal.

What is puzzling to me is that headgear became required in football long before hockey -- in fact while all football was being played on grass.

But even at that very simple football facemasks didn't come in till the fifties despite lots of guys with facial scars and missing teeth.

I put most of the resistance to headgear down to a stupid-macho mentality and not wanting to be forst to look 'chicken'.

What always made me cringe, though, in seeing NHL games in the pre-Jacques Plante days was guys playing goalie (no less) with no head protection of any kind. With the possibility of getting hit by a 90 mph puck is bad enough (and has been known to kill people in the crowd) there is also a good chance of getting hit with a stick.

I suspect the next generation of helmets will have a cushioning 'soft' exterior as well as the impact-absorbing interior.

Depleted uranium, anyone?

Please, no more jiggling melons talk without pictures!

Thank you.

quote:

Please, no more jiggling melons talk without pictures!

Not Safe For Work or People Who Don't Want Their Kids Seeing Boobs

explains a lot about T-Plush ...

The biggest difference between the two concussions. The NHL ones happen during the most boring of the North American sporting events while the football ones happen during the most exciting of the North American sporting events.

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Originally posted by Goalline:
..... happen during the most boring of the North American sporting events

I didn't know thwere were that many concussions in the NBA Goalline.

...or MLB?

When helmets began to be required in the NHL, I don't know that they were designed for much of anything in the way of protection. I could be wrong, of course, but I don't remember hearing any discussion about these helmets protecting against concussion; just for flying puck protection. I've always assumed they were little more than a bicycle helmet.