|
|
 |
 |   |
EVENTS Fantasy Central Inside Game Video Plus Statitudes Your Turn Message Boards Email Newsletters Golf Guide Cities 
CNNSI.com GROUP
COMMERCE | |
Hold those plans Berard's eye still a concern despite comeback attempt
By George Gross, SLAM! Sports The Maple Leafs defense without Bryan Berard has resembled for the past year and a half an order of ham without eggs at the breakfast table. Or, using another analogy, it reminded one of original Swiss Ementhal cheese -- full of holes. Latest news from the Berard camp indicates that the standout offensive defenseman who has undergone several eye operations following an injury from the stick of Ottawa Senators' Marian Hossa 18 months ago, has resumed practising with the U.S. Olympic team and wants to rejoin the NHL. The vision in his injured eye is 20/600, which is below the NHL requirement of 20/400, but apparently a special lens could bring up his vision to the required 20/400. Also, legal experts are telling me that if Berard took the case to court, he could overturn the NHL rule. To get a clearer view, I decided to talk to Dr. Tom Pashby, a renowned Toronto ophthalmologist, who received the Order of Canada for his research into eye and head injuries in general. He also initiated and still runs the Dr. Tom Pashby Sports Safety Fund, supported by many hockey players and officials. Dr. Tom didn't feel comfortable with Berard's intention of returning to the NHL wars.
"I think, legally, he can," he said. "However, if he were my son, I would not recommend that he resume playing. From what I understand, he has very little side vision which, from a safety point of view, is risky. "One eye is essentially one eye. Mind you, it has happened in the past that some players played with one eye, using racquet sports-type goggles for protection." A player of Berard's caliber would be of course of big help to several NHL teams, including the Maple Leafs. In fact the New York Rangers have already offered him a tryout. Clubs that have shown interest in dealing with Berard who is, after all, only 25 years old, are aware of his ability. But Dr. Pashby is not convinced it is a good idea. He went back into his notes some 80 years to offer scary examples. "In 1921, a Kitchener Greenshirts senior OHA player suffered a blinding injury in his right eye, playing in the Allan Cup playdowns at the old Mutual Street Arena in Toronto," Pashby said. "The previous year, he had suffered a sight-losing injury in his other eye, again playing hockey. The second injury rendered him legally blind. His name was Frank Trushinski. Fortunately, he was provided with employment by the Schneider company in Kitchener. My thoughts have always been influenced by the Frank Trushinski story. "Then there was George Parsons, who played for the Toronto Maple Leafs. He lost an eye in Maple Leaf Gardens in 1939, ending his hockey career. He told me that hockey players could not obtain injury insurance at the time. With help from Connie Smythe, he was given employment by CCM. "Herb Dickenson of the New York Rangers lost the sight in his right eye at the Gardens in 1952. He told me he received $5,000 insurance and a television set. "I have recorded 308 blind eyes in Canadian hockey over the period from 1972 to 2000," the doctor said. "There were no blind eyes to players who were wearing certified full-face protectors and only eight of the 308 were to players wearing half-shields, or what they call visors." Hopefully, if Berard does make a comeback in the NHL, he will wear a full-face protector, even though there is a $6-million clause in his insurance policy, in case a new injury render him incapable of playing hockey. It's not a rosy picture, any way one looks at it.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||
