Concussions in sports...Habs Michael Cammalleri speaks out

“This is a man's game, it's a physical game. It's always shrugged at talk about injuries,” Cammalleri said Friday. “But over the years you've seen intelligent people get involved and they're saying to take this stuff seriously. They're not saying to take anything away from the game, but let's not be ignorant of the risks.”

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/time-for-transition-period-on-concussions-cammalleri-says/article1406189/


This is based on the recent autopsy of former NHL tough guy Reggie Fleming who passed away last summer with what doctors have now determined was brain trauma from as many as 20 concussions suffered over 13 NHL seasons. The Boston University School of Medicine examined slices of Fleming's brain and found it to be damaged in the same pattern as tissue taken from a dozen deceased football players and five boxers.

Kudos to the Globe & Mail for this series of stories. Whether it's the NFL or the NHL, this issue is not going away and both leagues need to deal with it.

Here's the Reggie Fleming story that started it all

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/hockey/reggie-flemings-story/article1404659/

His son Gerry talks about concussions in the old days

“You’d sit in the penalty box after taking a punch in the head, and all of a sudden the right side of your vision would go black. Or your left. Usually it was back by the time the penalty was over,” said Fleming, now an assistant coach with the Springfield Falcons of the AHL. “You just shook it off and didn’t really think anything of it.”