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Inside the NHL
Posted: Tuesday January 25, 2000 03:47 PM Heads UpA third concussion in 22 months has clouded Eric Lindros's future By Kostya Kennedy
According to several physicians who specialize in head injuries, there's no conclusive evidence that a susceptibility to concussions is genetic. "We know that some players are or become more likely to get concussions than others," says Elliott Pellman, who's the Islanders' team doctor and also does brain-injury research for the NFL. "We haven't determined why that is, but frequency of occurrence may be an indicator. Another indicator may be if a player's symptoms seem disproportionate to the blow." Lindros, who vomited twice in the hours following the game against Atlanta and who had headaches while riding a stationary bike three days later, is not sure what caused his latest concussion. He may have been hurt when he bodychecked Thrashers' defenseman Chris Tamer in the first period or moments later when he was elbowed in the head while jostling for position near the net. Regardless, after a quick evaluation, Lindros went back in the game, and the concussion wasn't diagnosed until after his nausea and headaches persisted and he vomited on the team bus and plane. "What scares me is how easily it happened," says Flyers forward Mark Recchi, who missed three games with a concussion last March and two more with migraine headaches a few days later. In his eight seasons with the Flyers, Lindros has battled knee injuries and last year missed the playoffs while recovering from a collapsed lung. He has led Philadelphia to the Stanley Cup finals only once (1997), exchanged testy words with Flyers general manager Bob Clarke during the summer of 1998 and been a frequent subject of trade rumors recently. Yet none of that baggage is likely to weigh as heavily with Lindros's current or prospective employers as his history of concussions. He's playing under a one-year, $8.5 million contract and could command much more when he becomes a restricted free agent this summer. When Clarke was asked how the latest injury might impact negotiations, he said, "I'm not thinking about that. We just want Eric healthy." There's little doubt that when Lindros returns he will continue to play the physical style he relies upon to be an elite player. Says Eric and Brett's father, Carl, who has become well schooled in the anecdotal evidence surrounding head injuries, "The way Eric plays, we expect he could have a concussion every other year." Issue date: January 31, 2000
For more Inside the NHL see this week's issue of Sports Illustrated, on newsstands Wednesday, January 26. Click here to subscribe to SI.
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