NHL concussion spotters lacked authority to remove Sidney Crosby after Game 6 collision

When Penguins captain Sidney Crosby slammed head-first into the boards in Game 6, just a week after suffering a concussion, few expected him to return so soon. But he did, and afterwards his own coach admitted Crosby was not evaluated for a concussion.

That raised eyebrows. Don’t NHL teams have concussion spotters? According to a report from the USA Today, the concussion spotters had no authority to pull Crosby off the ice after that Game 6 incident.

“Depending on the mechanism of injury, ‘slow to get up’ does not trigger mandatory removal,” NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly told USA TODAY Sports. “The protocol has to be interpreted literally to mandate a removal. ‘Ice’ as compared to ‘boards’ is in there for a reason. It’s the result of a study on our actual experiences over a number of years. ‘Ice’ has been found to be a predictor of concussions -- ‘boards’ has not been.”

OK, hold up. Editorial side note:

OK. Back to news writing.

Daly also told USA Today that concussion history is not “taken into account” by spotters when deciding whether or not to remove a player from a game.

Editorial side note:

Two NHL spotters monitor every game, usually. Though NHL spotters are usually league officials, not actual trainers. This differentiates NHL spotters from spotters in the NFL, who are trainers with real power to pull players from games. In the NHL, only a trainer who is the “central league spotter” watching games from league offices in New York can decide if a player can leave a game or not.

But that’s all fine, because ramming your recently concussed head into a wall at high speed isn’t really a predictor of concussions, according to the oddly selective NHL concussion policy wording.

But again, that’s fine. Because Crosby, a once-in-a-generation hockey talent, might lose out Game 7 on Wednesday and have health issues for years. But boy, at least he has the chance!

This is all fine.