NHL Get’s Additional Help

The game is changing in various way’s and one that is of concern to players, owners and the NHL itself is the area that concerns concessions.

The league will reportedly introduce spotters for every game this season, whose role will be to determine visible signs of concussion among players as reported by Renaud Lavole of TVA.

The concussion spotter will offer an extra set of eyes in the event team medical staff are busy and can’t miss something extremely obvious.

For a player to be removed from a game by a spotter, he (injured player) would have to exhibit three clearly visible concussion symptoms.

The spotter will alert team personnel of any abnormalities, but is obligated to have player tested if three concussion symptoms are clear.

This procedure was first introduced by the NFL and is aimed at holding teams accountable for taking possible concussions far more serious, thus ensuring that players are examined promptly after being hit in the head.

Prior to this the teams received undisclosed fines if they failed to send a player with visible signs of concussion to the locker room for examination.

This is a huge step in dealing with this issue and it is hoped that more leagues will follow suit.

This goes beyond the NHL and it’s players as it’s filtered down to the minor sports and the worse for this is the summer “non-sanctioned” hockey where it’s all about the money and not the injuries caused to the young players.

It is hoped that all this summer hockey leads to obtaining better or more qualified coaches that are in the game for the love of the sport and not some we have seen in YouTube videos.

The sport at the NHL level is business and at the minor level it’s meant to be about learning and building better citizens for tomorrow, but for some it’s only about winning and the trophy they get to hold.

One part of the game that is lost is RESPECT and now it’s about hitting hard, doing damage and winning – thus the injuries to the youth.