First up, Dater's take on the rookie training camp.
A couple other notes from today:
- While many veterans took part in informal drills with the rookies after their hour of time on the ice, Peter Mueller was not one of them. He’d been on the ice a lot recently, so immediately the alarm bells went off when he wasn’t out there. Was there something wrong again, something concussion-related? The Avs say no, that he’ll be at the Pepsi Center taking physicals and undergoing other fitness testing Friday.
So we’ll just assume everything is fine.
The London Press (Canadian) has a bit about Joey Hishon.
Nearly four months after a violent Brayden McNabb elbow knocked Hishon out of the Memorial Cup with a concussion, the Stratford native and former Owen Sound Attack star is not able to take part in on-ice activities. There's a good chance the Avs will send him home so that he can continue to visit specialists in London.
Hishon is unlikely to return to Owen Sound as an overage player. The Avalanche are expected to find him a spot.
The Globe and Mail touches on concussions.
The introduction of mandatory testing to help reduce the damage of head injuries in young hockey players has done nothing to snuff out the controversy over concussions in sport.
Medical experts remain skeptical, if not dismissive, of decisions by some hockey associations to implement baseline testing for players, and not all parents have expressed whole-hearted support. The tests are meant to prevent injured players from returning to the ice before they have fully recovered, but the worry is parents, players and coaches may rely on them too heavily.
CBC.ca has a story about Willie Mitchell and his fight with a concussion.
After the Malkin hit, Mitchell wanted to be left alone in the dark because light made it unbearable and every little noise got to him. The severe symptoms eventually subsided, but then Mitchell faced the external pressure of when he would return.
Everywhere he turned in Vancouver, he would run into a fan, a friend or teammate, and the questions would start. When are you coming back, Willie? How's your head, Willie? Are you feeling better, Willie? All those queries did was put pressure on Mitchell that he didn't need.
"Stress can give you a headache under normal circumstances," he said. "When you have a brain injury it's worse. This is why concussions can be misdiagnosed as depression. The brain is like a computer - the more you use it the more stress it feels. When it's injured like that, you need to put your brain in sleep mode."