concussions

Discussion of Minnesota Girls High School Hockey

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greybeard58
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academic struggles in UW-Madison students

Post by greybeard58 » Sun Jan 07, 2018 11:23 am

Concussions linked to academic struggles in UW-Madison students


“This is a very important time of their life, where they’re growing independent, making career decisions and planning a future,” said Traci Snedden, a UW-Madison assistant professor of nursing leading the research. “If their academic experience is affected because of their cognitive deficits, there potentially could be long-term ramifications.”

...“We don’t have any (guidelines) right now for the college students, so they’re self-advocating what they might need, but often they don’t know what they need,” Snedden said. “They’re continuing to go to their high-level college courses, potentially not doing well in a high-stakes mid-term or final exam.”

Faculty can’t easily identify students with concussions, she said. “These students look as though they’re fine. They have no casts, no crutches.”

Concussions linked to academic struggles in UW-Madison students
Read more: http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/ ... 717a8.html

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Post by greybeard58 » Sun Jan 07, 2018 11:25 am

"Concussion is a massive issue.”

"When we have young academy players — and we are talking 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 — we get the parents in and talk to them about it," City club doctor Matthew Brown told The Associated Press. "Concussion is a massive issue.”

Dementia concerns starting among academy players in soccer
http://www.startribune.com/dementia-con ... 449274183/

greybeard58
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Tori Ray Concussion

Post by greybeard58 » Sun Jan 07, 2018 11:28 am

Tori Ray

I always thought of concussions as just being headaches. You go to a doctor and they tell you that you have a minor concussion. Then they tell you that you need to sit out for two weeks and you will be fine. After those two weeks are up I would be back to competitive play ignoring symptoms, always thinking; “it’s been two weeks I’m fine.” That’s what I had learned over the years and I’m sure many others have found themselves in the same position. All of that changed for me in the summer of 2011. It was then that I learned how serious concussions can be and how important it is to really allow your brain to heal.

This is Tori, here is her Story.
Read more: https://birthmarked.blog/2017/09/11/thi ... her-story/

greybeard58
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Taylor Wenczkowski Concussion

Post by greybeard58 » Sun Jan 07, 2018 11:30 am

Taylor Wenczkowski

It’s been a long road back for the University of New Hampshire’s Taylor Wenczkowski.

The sophomore forward, of Rochester, missed all of last season with a concussion.

Wenczkowski happy to be back for UNH women's hockey
Read more: http://www.unionleader.com/article/2017 ... /171029782

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Post by greybeard58 » Thu Jan 11, 2018 6:59 am

Charleigh Carthy
With 4:14 left in the first, Charleigh Carthy went down with an injury as there was a lengthy timeout to take care of Carthy, who said after the game that she was checked for a concussion.

Bulldogs lead throughout, top Colonels
Read more: http://www.benningtonbanner.com/stories ... els,529197

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Post by greybeard58 » Thu Jan 11, 2018 7:01 am

Don Draayer, former superintendent of Minnetonka Public Schools and grandfather.
Simultaneously, we have become more aware, and sobered, by sports injuries, especially head concussions in football and hockey, and increasingly in soccer, too. Furthermore, we are learning from medical research that some professional players in high contact sports are dying too young from repeated head injuries.

Thus, during my lifetime, hockey has excited me, challenged me, entertained me and given me wonderful memories. But now, high-contact sports are giving me pause and torn feelings. What do you think should be — or will be — the future of higher risk sports for American youth?

Draayer: Hooked on hockey but concerned for its future
Read more: http://www.swnewsmedia.com/lakeshore_we ... 54e20.html

greybeard58
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Sarah Renberg & Head N Tales Podcasts

Post by greybeard58 » Sun Jan 14, 2018 10:21 am

Sarah Renberg & Head N Tales Podcasts

Sarah Renberg
Sarah Renberg is an 18 year old ice hockey player from the Washington DC area. Sarah has been battling post-concussion syndrome since 2014 after sustaining multiple concussions while playing for the Washington Pride Junior Women's Hockey Club.

Concussion #1 occurred on Jan. 31, 2014. Sarah was hit hard from behind and went headfirst into the boards. She was slow to get up but finished the game and played another before taking another awkward hit that alerted one of her fellow teammates to encourage to sit out. This injury required close to 6 months of rehab for vision and vestibular problems before she was ready to play at an elite level again.

Concussion #2 came only 97 days after becoming symptom free after the first head injury. This time, Sarah took a hit from an opponent that caused her to hit her head on the ice in a whip-lash effect. This second concussion caused Sarah's occipital nerve to become inflamed and she also injured the ligaments in her neck. In addition, she developed postural orthostatic trachycardia syndrome along with the more common vision and vestibular struggles. She has been in intensive rehab since December 2014 and has traveled extensively seeking various treatments. During our conversation we discuss the treatment options that have been most effective during her recovery. We also talk about helpful suggestions for student athletes who need to complete academic requirements.

65 : Redefining "Tough" One Goal At A Time w/ The Headway Foundation's Sarah Renberg
Read more and Listen to the podcast at: http://www.headsntales.org/podcast/65


In each weekly Heads 'N Tales podcast, Kevin Saum brings you an inspiring athlete story of perseverance or expert knowledge in the field of sports health and safety. Just like flipping a coin, you can't control what happens to you in sports or in life, but you can always control how you respond. This is Kevin's response after suffering a traumatic brain injury in a high school football game.

Head ’N Tales: Talking Sports Injury Rehab, Prevention, Perseverance & Concussions
Website also includes podcasts with Molly Tissenbaum and Paige Decker.

99 : When Post-Concussion Syndrome is On a Breakaway w/ Former Harvard Hockey Goalie, Molly Tissenbaum
Read more and Listen to the podcast at: http://www.headsntales.org/podcast/99

19 : Paige Decker, "When the Wind Blows Hard and the Sky is Black - Ducks Fly Together"
Read more and Listen to the podcast at: http://www.headsntales.org/podcast/19

greybeard58
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Study Suggests Injured Kids Sent Back on the Ice Too Soon

Post by greybeard58 » Sun Jan 14, 2018 10:29 am

Hockey Study Suggests Injured Kids Sent Back on the Ice Too Soon

After-effects of a concussion continue to wrack the brains of young hockey players long after they appear ready to return to play, new research finds.

MRI scans of concussed teen hockey players revealed brain changes persist for at least three months -- weeks after other symptoms resolve and skaters are cleared to hit the ice, a Canadian research team found.

Scores on thinking and memory tests -- two current measures of recovery -- returned to normal about 24 days (on average) following a concussion, the study findings showed.

These results indicate that current clinical tests used to judge an athlete's recovery could be improved, said senior researcher Ravi Menon. He's a professor and chair of functional and molecular imaging with the University of Western Ontario's Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry.

"Clearly those tests are not very sensitive," Menon said. "Basically, the standard concussion guidelines would indicate it's OK to go back to play, but the MRI changes show the brain is still damaged and still trying to compensate."

Hockey Study Suggests Injured Kids Sent Back on the Ice Too Soon
Brain changes persist at least 3 months after kids' concussions, study finds
Read more: https://consumer.healthday.com/cognitiv ... 27870.html

Link to collection of concussion studies in Neurology
http://www.neurology.org/cc/concussion- ... s-articles

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Logan Siffringer Concussion

Post by greybeard58 » Sun Jan 14, 2018 10:32 am

Logan Siffringer

“The key this year is we have four freshman and one sophomore who are all high-level travel players,” said Immaculate Heart coach Doug Brown. “Of the four freshman, three of them are Tier I players and the other one is a Tier II player. My sophomore was a Tier I player who had a concussion and was unable to play last year.”

With a full lineup, the Blue Eagles have been able to roll with two centers while mixing sets of wingers around them.
“Offensively our centers are Nina Winborn and Logan Siffringer,” Brown said. “They’re very gifted players. They see the ice and they know where to be and they can put the puck where it needs to be.”

Winborn is one of those Tier I freshmen who has helped lead the way offensively. In her team’s three wins, she’s recorded nine goals, including four in the win over Randolph.

“She’s just the total package,” Brown said. “Nina can skate like the win. She can pass the puck and shoot the puck. She just has that great vision of what happens on the ice. She has a very high hockey IQ.”

Siffringer missed all of last season with a concussion but has bounced back nicely with three goals and an assist so far.

Young core writing a new story for Immaculate Heart
Read more: http://highschoolsports.nj.com/news/art ... ate-heart/

greybeard58
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Melissa Brawdy Concussion

Post by greybeard58 » Sun Jan 14, 2018 10:37 am

Melissa Brawdy
"A year ago today, I got a concussion that really shook things up.

Today, the same two teams that were playing when I got it were supposed to meet again. It got postponed. I’m a little bit relieved, even if it does mean less hockey.”

https://mobile.twitter.com/MelissaBrawd ... 4148994049

greybeard58
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2 articles and a study

Post by greybeard58 » Thu Jan 18, 2018 5:06 pm

2 articles and a study


A Boston University study published Thursday has found the strongest link to date that ties repeated hits to the head—and not damage from a concussion—to chronic traumatic encephalopathy, the degenerative brain disease that slowly spreads and kills brain cells. According to the results of the study conducted by the university’s CTE Center and published in the journal Brain, 20 percent of the sampled brains found to have CTE were from people who didn’t report ever having a concussion.

...CTE Center Director Ann McKee explained that there is only one to prevent CTE risk: “There must be a reduction in the number of head impacts.”

Study Links Even Mild Repetitive Hits to the Head, Not Concussions, to CTE
Read more: https://www.thedailybeast.com/study-lin ... ons-to-cte


"We've had an inkling that subconcussive hits — the ones that don't [show] neurological signs and symptoms — may be associated with CTE," says Dr. Lee Goldstein, an associate professor of psychiatry at the Boston University School of Medicine and the lead investigator on the study. "We now have solid scientific evidence to say that is so."

Repeated Head Hits, Not Just Concussions, May Lead To A Type Of Chronic Brain Damage
Read more: https://www.npr.org/sections/health-sho ... ain-damage


Collectively, these results raise concern that repetitive neurotrauma, independent of concussion, may induce early CTE brain pathologies, even in teenagers and young adults.

Cumulative exposure to such injuries may also increase risk for other tau protein neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease (Stein et al., 2015b). These considerations are important not only for understanding and differentiating concussion, TBI, and CTE, but also to inform clinical practice, return-to-play protocols, and public health policy.

Concussion, microvascular injury, and early tauopathy in young athletes after impact head injury and an impact concussion mouse model
Read the study at: https://academic.oup.com/brain/advance- ... 50/4815697

greybeard58
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How one school handled Concussion Awareness Day

Post by greybeard58 » Wed Jan 24, 2018 5:22 pm

“Who here has ever had a concussion?”

Several hands shot up in the air.

“The one thing with concussions we know is if you’re diagnosed with one, we don’t want you back at school,” he said.

Concussions are only diagnosed by a doctor and if it is positive, students are immediately sent home for a period of at least seven days and must be watched for at least 24 to 48 hours as both signs and symptoms may take longer to appear or get worse.

Iassogna then asked his young flock which sport led to more concussions for boys.

“Who thinks hockey?”

A few hands went up tentatively.

“Who thinks football?”

The majority of the students raise their hands in agreement as they nod and chat to each other as he confirms their response.

“Registration of college football players in the U.S. has gone down dramatically, ever since people are being educated about concussions,” he said.

As for girls, however, soccer is the most concussion-ridden sport. As for team sports played by children and youth, ice hockey sees the most brain injuries.

He explained that once someone has sustained one concussion, there is a greater chance of having another and all concussions go on a student’s record.

Read more: https://www.flamboroughreview.com/news- ... eness-day/

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Post by greybeard58 » Wed Jan 24, 2018 5:26 pm

Awareness Isn't Enough To Stop Head Injuries In Sports. We Need Action Now.

Ken Dryden spent years driving home the grave danger of concussions and head trauma. Now, in this exclusive essay and his new book Game Change, the NHL legend says the time for talk is over. We need a non-negotiable rule on every rink, every game, he argues: No hits to the head, no excuses.

Our great good luck is that in hockey, different from football, there are clear, absolutely doable answers. These answers begin where the problem begins, with hits to the head. A hit to the head is a bad thing. Many hits, hard hits, are very bad things. Here is where we start. Here is where we focus. The issue isn't whether a hit is intentional or accidental, whether a player's head is up or down, targeted or not, whether the hit comes from a shoulder, an elbow or a fist. The brain doesn't distinguish. It is about the hit, period. It is about the player being hit, not the hitter; the effect, not the cause.

So, at the core of every decision made about concussions is a singular understanding: No hits to the head – no excuses.

And at the core of the obligation to make those decisions and act is another understanding: The risk to the game's players is not fair, not right, and not necessary.

Awareness Isn't Enough To Stop Head Injuries In Sports. We Need Action Now.
Read more: https://beta.theglobeandmail.com/sports ... le36585129



A "green fence" is one of a variety of visual images, which appear in different colours, that concussed people recall seeing at the time of impact.

...It never seemed it would happen this way. Steve's return to play was always a matter of time – time to allow things to settle, time to let the brain heal. A different doctor, a new treatment, a different understanding and approach to concussions, and to paraphrase what Steve had written in his journal, "Something's gonna happen to magically make me better."

He had always gotten better before. Athletes get better. You feel, you deal, it passes, you get on with it. That's how it had been with his back, his knee, his neck. That's how it had been with his head. Headaches, dizziness, fatigue, sensitivity to light – symptoms that felt like they were going to last forever always went away. No scars left behind, nothing he could see in the mirror, nothing anyone else could see even on MRIs, no indications that anything had happened.

...Athletes have their own kind of relationship with pain. They play because they are so absorbed in playing that they don't notice injuries when they happen. The soldier who is shot keeps on going because the imperative to go on is so much more important than the imperative to fall. The explanation for such a miraculous act is purpose more than courage.
So players play. And players expect other players to play. Someone goes down in a hockey game and is helped off the ice. "He'll be back," the announcer says. "He's a hockey player."

Excerpt from Ken Dryden’s Game Change
Read more: https://beta.theglobeandmail.com/sports ... e36585093/

greybeard58
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Post by greybeard58 » Wed Jan 24, 2018 5:29 pm

The difference between NCAA concussion stats and real life experience

Are the official NCAA women’s hockey concussion rates just the tip of the iceberg?

CONCLUSION:
There is a high incidence of SRC (Sports-Related Concussion) in collegiate women's ice hockey and a concerning level of symptom nondisclosure. Additional research is needed to understand the causes of concussion and reasons for the lack of symptom disclosure, including factors specific to female athletes and contextual issues specific to women's collegiate ice hockey.

• One-third of players reported at least 1 impact where they experienced concussion-like symptoms during the 2014-2015 season:
• 82.8% of these players reported that they continued to play after at least 1 of these impacts, and
• 66.8% of players reported at least 1 impact where they never disclosed any symptoms

Incidence of Sports-Related Concussion Among NCAA Women's Ice Hockey Athletes
Read more: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28812036

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Davis and Scarpaci

Post by greybeard58 » Wed Jan 24, 2018 5:35 pm

Sammy Davis and Bree Scarpaci
BU head coach Brian Durocher said he liked the way his team played, but that they’re still adjusting to the injuries of their players junior forward Sammy Davis, sophomore defenseman Breanna Scarpaci and sophomore defenseman Alexandra Calderone who was injured on Friday.

“I like the way we competed and I liked the way we played,” Durocher said. “We’re getting a lot of bad bounces here in the way of injuries you know … You got to play with who’s on the bus.”

Women’s Hockey Falls to Northeastern
Read more: http://dailyfreepress.com/2017/10/07/wo ... -to-three/

He cites the recent injuries sidelining two key players, assistant tri-captain Sammy Davis (CGS’16, Sargent’19) and Bree Scarpaci (Sargent’20). Davis is out for the season, but Scarpaci is expected to return in December.

Women’s Ice Hockey Out to Regain Dominance
Read more: https://www.bu.edu/today/2017/womens-ic ... dominance/

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Andrew Carroll

Post by greybeard58 » Wed Jan 31, 2018 9:04 pm

Family of Former Hockey Star Donate Their Son's Brain to CTE Research

January 27, 2018 02:13 PM

There was a moment of silence during the University of Minnesota-Duluth hockey game against St. Cloud State University Friday night for former Bulldog player Andrew Carroll, who died earlier this week.

The Bulldogs wore the initials "AC" on their helmets during the game for the 32-year-old.

In the crowd for the game were members of Carroll's family, who drove up from the Twin Cities.

"It brings comfort to know that he touched a lot of people and to hear those stories...it kind of brings comfort to your soul," Chris Carroll, Andrew's brother, said.

The Chicago Medical Examiner's Office said Andrew Carroll took his own life inside Chicago's O'Hare International Airport on Monday.

In the last 74 years of UMD hockey, Carroll holds the record for being a captain during his four years of college, when he skated for the team during the mid-2000s.

Carroll left the state to play for AHL's Hartford Wolf Pack/Connecticut Whale, Abbotsford Heat, Peoria Rivermen and the Hershey Bears.

He also skated for the Charlotte Checkers and Bakersfield Condors, when those organizations were members of the ECHL.

The family decided to donate Carroll's brain to the CTE Center at Boston University.

Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) is a progressive degenerative disease of the brain found in people with a history of repetitive brain trauma, including symptomatic concussions, according to the BU researchers' website.

"It was an easy decision," Chris Carroll said. "In some respect it brought some comfort to my parents. Certainly not that it's going to be a silver bullet answer, but it can certainly help shape things moving forward."

Carroll added, "If it can help somebody, that's what my brother would want."

http://kstp.com/news/andrew-carroll-umd ... h/4760830/

greybeard58
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Brain injury in sports

Post by greybeard58 » Wed Jan 31, 2018 9:09 pm

Brain injury in sports

The human brain is 60 to 80 percent water. The human brain floats freely inside your skull, and the human brain has no reasonable capacity to cure itself, so when you have a blow to your head, there is no regeneration.

...The human brain does not have a capacity to sustain such violence, so each and every impact you have causes microscopic injuries in your brain. Because the brain does not have an unlimited reserve to cure itself, at some point, it resets itself and becomes self destructive. And it’s final, there is no cure, and it is progressive. So subconcussive blows are accumulated upon each other. There is no safe blow to the human head. Every impact to your head can be dangerous. That is why you need to protect your head from all types of blunt force trauma. A helmet does not make a difference.”

Brain injury in sports ‘the civil rights issue of our time,’ top researcher says
Read more: https://www.wisconsinwatch.org/2018/01/ ... #pq=7ymQRk

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Dark, Dark, Dark, Dark, Dark, Dark, Dark, Dark

Post by greybeard58 » Sat Feb 03, 2018 10:21 am

It’s the summer of 1994, I am standing at the edge of a cliff in Kamloops, British Columbia, and I am checking out.

In February, as a 21-year-old starting goalie, I’d backstopped Canada to an Olympic silver medal. In June, as the third goalie for the New York Rangers, I’d drunk out of the Stanley Cup. I have a girlfriend at home. I have a turbo sports car parked behind me. I have the horizon in front of me — so much horizon — and as I look out past the end of it, I am completely calm.

I’m going to see how fast this sports car can go … and drive it right off this cliff.

And then, finally, I’ll be at peace. My thoughts will be gone.

I get in my car and back up a mile and a half so I can get some speed. I’ve been down these roads hundreds of times, while playing junior hockey for the Kamloops Blazers. All I ever wanted to be, ever since I was a little kid, was a goalie. Ever since I saw Gerry Cheevers in that iconic fiberglass mask — you know the one, with the black stitches painted all over it — I just knew. That’s it. I want to be the guy behind that mask. I want to play in the NHL.

Now I’m 22 years old, and I’ve made it to the NHL. I have my whole life ahead of me.

And none of it matters.

I crank up the music. I slam my foot down on the gas and try not to think. I am done. I can’t do it anymore.

I’m in first gear, second gear, third gear….

I’m up to 100 mph.

The g-force sucks me back into the seat.

I’m up to 140.

I’m coming up to the cliff. I’m sorry to everybody — I really am. I’m so sorry. But I just can’t do it anymore.

I’m coming up to the edge of the cliff.

This is the end.

And then — for whatever reason — this vision pops into my head.

I slam on the brakes, and the car starts skidding — and skidding … and skidding. It skids for what seems like forever.

Until it stops.

All I can do is sit there, sobbing and sobbing.

Please, I think, somebody help me.

I can still recall the exact moment that my brain started lying to me. It was May 6, 1994, between Games 3 and 4 of the Eastern Conference finals. As the third goalie for the Rangers, I was what’s known as a “black ace.” When you’re a black ace, there’s no pressure. I wasn’t playing — I wasn’t even practicing every day, but I still got to travel with the team. I was just a 21-year-old kid with a front row seat to history.

I was standing at a bar in Washington, D.C., with two of the Capitals’ black aces. Back in those days, it was common for guys from different teams to hang out together. We were having a beer, just laughing and telling stories, when all of a sudden, completely out of nowhere, and completely for no reason whatsoever….

I had this thought.

It was a horrible, ridiculous, dark thought.

hirschHave you ever had one of those? A flash in your mind. Something totally absurd. It’s almost like your brain is telling you, “Think of the darkest, most horrible thing you can imagine.”

To give you the tamest example possible: Maybe you’re driving your car, and you imagine yourself turning the wheel and driving into oncoming traffic. You’d never do it, of course. So why are you thinking it? It’s absurd.

And then it’s gone. You think about your dog, or an email you have to send, or what you want to eat for lunch, and you don’t even have time to laugh it off, because it’s gone before you even have time to analyze it. It’s just a flash, you know?

But as I was standing there in the bar, the dark thought wouldn’t go away. It kept repeating and repeating. I was actively trying to get it out of my head — but the more I tried, the more I couldn’t stop thinking this horrible, dark, ridiculous thought. The thought hammered me, and I started freaking out. I wasn’t drunk. I wasn’t mad. I wasn’t anything.

Dude, what is going on? Where is this coming from?

I could barely breathe. I couldn’t hear the guys talking. All I could hear was this dark thought.

I made an excuse to the guys that I was tired, and I went back to my hotel room. But when I went to sleep, the thought was still hammering me, and it was actually getting heavier and louder.

I will never forget the last thought I had as I drifted off to sleep.

These thoughts are never going away.

When I woke up the next morning, after a deep sleep, they were still there. Not just still there in the background either. Still there, screaming at me. Pounding me.

I had no idea what was wrong with me. What do these thoughts mean? Am I a bad person? Did I do something wrong? Why is this happening?

Holy XXXX, am I going insane?

Darkness. Pure, relentless darkness. For no reason.

I mean, it’s not like there hadn’t been signs that something was up.

Two years earlier, during my first season in the AHL, I moved into this tiny apartment in Binghamton, New York. I was on the bottom floor, and I could hear the couple above me walking around all the time. The footsteps were deafening. It got so bad that I couldn’t sleep. I started leaving the house at night and not coming back until two in the morning, when I knew for sure that they would be asleep, and that I could finally be at peace.

But the crazy thing was, once I got on the ice, everything was fine. I was having an amazing year. I went 35-4-5 and was the AHL’s rookie of the year. But off the ice, I was a mess. I was so lonely. I would go home, and I would feel this horrible, unrelenting anxiety. Hanging over me. Hammering on me. I moved apartments five times that year to try to find peace.

But when summer came, I went back home to Calgary and everything was quiet again. The noise was gone. I figured I just had sensitive hearing and that the stress of being away from home for the first time had made it worse. For months, I was totally fine. I went to the ’94 Olympics with Team Canada, traveled the world, won a silver medal and then joined the Rangers for their playoff run. I was living the dream.

And then one night, I was at that bar in D.C. having a beer with the other two black aces and….

Darkness. Pure, relentless darkness. For no reason.

When I woke up the next morning, and the thoughts were still there, repeating over and over, I figured: Well, just get home. If you get back to Calgary, this will all go away, just like last time. You’ll be at peace.

But how was I going to get home without anyone from the Rangers knowing what was going on inside my brain? Because if they knew, I figured I would never play in the NHL again. I would be done.

After the morning skate, I grabbed an extra stick blade from the bin and stuffed it in my bag. When I got back to my hotel, I sat on the edge of the bed in silence and took out the blade.

My plan was to break my hand and hide the injury until the next day at practice. That way, I could go down after taking a shot, and the team would send me home to recover without knowing what was really going on. In those days, the blades were wooden and heavy as hell. I smashed the blade against my left hand three or four times, as hard as I possibly could.

Bad plan.

I just couldn’t break it.

Instead, I bruised the hell out of it. I had to stay for the entire Cup run. Every single minute, I was dying inside. Night sweats, tremors every morning … the unrelenting thoughts and anxiety were crippling.

It got so bad that I told my parents I needed help. My mom actually got on the next flight to New York just so she could be with me, but she had no idea what to do. One day after practice, we went sightseeing so I could get some fresh air. We got to the top of the Empire State Building, overlooking the whole city, and….

I mean, think about this: All your son ever wanted to do was play in the NHL. He gets drafted by the New York Rangers. He’s along for the ride on a Stanley Cup run. He’s standing on top of the world, literally.

And he’s completely broken.

I looked my mom right in the eye and said, “I wish I could jump off this building right now.”

I really meant it. She started crying.

I looked my mom right in the eye and said, “I wish I could jump off this building right now.”

At the rink, guys would come up to me smiling, trying to PLEASE BAN ME.

“Hirschey, what’s up, bud?”

And it was like they weren’t even there. My brain was too full. My brain was on fire. I’d just nod and walk away.

The Rangers won the Stanley Cup for the first time in 54 years. New York City went crazy. The next morning, I was on the first flight back to Calgary. I didn’t stick around for the parade. No pictures. Nothing. Guys probably thought I was an arrogant jerk, but I didn’t care. I had to get out of there. I was desperate.

But when I got home, the thoughts didn’t go away. None of it made sense. I didn’t have any trauma in my life. I had never felt sad or worried before any of this started. I had a great childhood with amazing parents. My dad never missed a practice or a game of mine … not one. The weirdest thing of all was that I didn’t even feel much pressure when it came to my job. Hockey was the one distraction from my thoughts. I could go on the ice, and concentrate 100% of my brain on the puck, and feel at peace. When the national anthem started, the dark thoughts went away. But as soon as I got back to my locker after a game, the cycle would start all over again.

Hammering, hammering, hammering.

Darkness. Disgust. Shame. Anxiety.

I had no idea where to even begin looking for help. The words therapy and mental health just weren’t used in my household. I grabbed the Yellow Pages and looked for the friendliest ad for a therapist that I could find. But talking about my thoughts with the therapist only seemed to make things worse, and she didn’t give me any clinical diagnosis.

I’m not blaming her. Maybe I was too young and afraid to articulate what I was feeling. But at the end of my sessions with her, I felt like … Oh my God, what if all these thoughts are real?

And that’s when I got really scared. What if there’s no explanation? What if there’s no remedy? Maybe I was just losing my mind? The guilt and shame just compounded. I could barely get out of bed.

Then one day, I just couldn’t take it anymore. In my messed up brain, anything was better than being alone 24/7 with my dark thoughts. I decided to end my life. I went up to the top of the cliff in Kamloops and thought, I’m checking out. Let’s see how fast this car can go.

I am here today because of a vision that popped into my head at 140 miles an hour. I wish I could say that it was a warm and happy thought that stopped me. But it was actually just this:

What if I don’t die?

What if I survive this crash, and I’m severely injured, and I’m stuck in bed with all these dark thoughts, on repeat, for the rest of my life?


I am here today because of a vision that popped into my head at 140 miles an hour.

That image was so terrifying that, somehow, it seemed worse than death. It made me slam on the brakes.

From that day forward, I told myself that I would hide my pain from everybody in the hockey world as best I could, and try to go on. I’d stay in bed, drowning in my thoughts for as long as I possible, then I’d go to the rink and get on the ice and have some temporary peace. Then I’d get home as quickly as possible and start drowning again, until I finally fell asleep.

It was a bad plan.

After a decent season back in the AHL, the Rangers traded me to the Canucks in April 1995. I can only imagine what the management in New York thought of me.

My goalie mask from that era has become kind of well-known in the hockey world. So well-known, in fact, that it sits in the Hockey Hall of Fame. The mask is semi-famous because of its awesome design, but it actually had a much deeper meaning for me. When the painter, Frank Cipra, asked me what theme I was looking for, I thought it would be cool to go with a Halloween theme, since Vancouver’s colors were still orange, yellow and black at that time.

“Let’s go with something scary,” I said.

We went with the Bates house from the movie Psycho. I can’t remember who suggested it, but I thought it was perfect — my own little secret, and nobody would know but me.

When I got the mask back from him, I pulled it out of the box and it was … beautiful.

On either side of the mask were haunting mirror images of the Bates house. In the middle, there was a silhouette of Alfred Hitchcock. The sky was blood red and orange, like the air was on fire.

It was the perfect representation of what was going on inside my head. Every single day, when I woke up in the morning, it felt like the front of my brain was on fire.

Believe it or not, my first season in Vancouver, I kept it together. I was functional. It was a fresh start, closer to my family. Plus, I was focused on making an NHL team, so everything was exciting. I was still full of anxiety, but when I was on the ice at least I could obsess over the puck instead of my own thoughts.

My second season, though, the wheels came off.

My dark thoughts became more and more crippling. I couldn’t even get out of bed to eat, and I lost a ton of weight. At one point, I was down to about 140 pounds. Two months into the ’96–97 season, we were on an East Coast road trip when I felt like I just couldn’t take it anymore. I told myself that if I didn’t get help, I was going to find a way to end my life — for sure this time.

On November 13, I pulled our trainer aside before the morning skate — right in the tunnel under Nassau Coliseum — and I told him the truth.

I told him I was not well.

I told him I had two options: Either I had to get some help, or I was done.

He looked at me in complete shock. And I can understand why. In the ’90s, you simply didn’t talk about mental health. It wasn’t that people in hockey didn’t care about one another. They did — but it wasn’t the culture back then. And while things have improved in recent years, it still isn’t the culture.

To our trainer’s credit, after the initial shock wore off, he made sure I got some help. The team contacted a psychologist in Vancouver and set up an appointment. The only problem was, we still had two games to play on the road trip. Our backup goalie was a rookie. So that night, I actually played against the Islanders.

I let in five goals. We lost in overtime.

The dark thoughts were screaming at me now. I mean screaming. And now they were following me onto the ice. The next day at our morning skate in New Jersey, it felt like my brain finally floated away. I was standing in the crease, and it was like a thick fog had entered the rink. I could barely see. I couldn’t hear anyone. I could see myself standing there, but my brain was somewhere else. It was floating around the rink, in the fog.

“Hirschey, you O.K.?” Hirschey?”

At that point, it became impossible for my teammates and coaches to ignore what was happening. No one knew exactly what was going on, myself included, but we all seemed to agree that I was broken. After practice, our coach, Tom Renney, called the team together for a meeting. Tom told the team that I wasn’t well, and that they’d be starting Mike Fountain in goal that night.

I had my head in my hands. I couldn’t look at anybody. I felt so ashamed, and so alone. I thought for sure I’d be reading about it in the papers the next day. In 1996, if it leaked that a guy was having mental health issues … holy hell. It would have been so overwhelming for me.

But nobody said a word.

A few people treated me like the plague, sure. But nobody said a word to the press, or to anybody publicly.

We went back home to Vancouver and I met with the team’s psychologist. I had no real hope that he could help me. I had already seen therapists. Talking just seemed to make it worse. But this guy was different. He evaluated me for a full day, and then he said five words that changed everything. I am here telling my story today because of these five words.

“You have obsessive-compulsive disorder.”

All it took him was one session to diagnose me. He just looked at me and said it matter-of-factly, like there was no doubt.

“This is treatable,” he said. “It’s not curable, as we all have OCD tendencies, but it is manageable, and treatable.”

He explained that my issue wasn’t moral, or even mental. It wasn’t a choice. It was physical. My goalie mask was more than a metaphor. The reason why the front of my brain felt like it was on fire was because of a dysfunction that starts in the frontal lobe. Basically, my wires were crossed.

I was so happy just to have some explanation for what was going on in my brain that I almost started weeping in his office.

Just saying it out loud took a huge weight off me.

“I have obsessive-compulsive disorder.”

I am not insane. I am not a bad person. I am not weak. I have an illness, and there is a treatment.

(I actually went out that same night and shut out Dallas.)

You may be reading this thinking, “OCD? Like the hand-washing thing? Like the people who love to be organized? I have that, too!”

Well, no. That’s not the kind of OCD I have.

In our society, OCD has become shorthand for anybody who carries around a little bottle of hand sanitizer. Yes, compulsive hand-washing can be one of the signs of OCD. However, there are many different variations of OCD, and many of the compulsions are purely mental — you can’t see the disease just by looking at a person.

Some people have religious OCD, where they are hammered by feelings of guilt for sins that they haven’t even committed yet, and are paralyzed by the fear that they’ll go to hell for these hypothetical sins. I remember feeling a little bit of that during my Catholic school days, but that wasn’t my specific issue.

Some people have a type of OCD where they are paralyzed by the fear that, merely by touching a doorknob or a subway pole, they will contract an incurable disease. In the ’90s, when the AIDS epidemic was at its height, I had this same crippling fear.

Some people have “harm OCD,” where they are hammered with mental images of themselves committing acts of violence — acts that they would never actually commit, but that they cannot stop envisioning.

And here is the most important part. Here is what I didn’t fully understand before I was diagnosed, and what many people reading this may not understand: When you have OCD, your brain is not saying, “I want to do this horrible thing.” Your brain is saying, “Oh my God, what if I did this horrible thing? How horrible would that be? For the love of God, I hope I never do this.”

And on, and on, and on, and on. You fight the thought, and that’s what makes it worse. The more you fight, the more it digs in.

Darkness, darkness, darkness, darkness.

People with OCD want 100% certainty. They want 100% certainty that they’re not going to harm anyone. They want 100% certainty that they’re not going to get some deadly disease. But their brain is lying to them — screaming at them, actually — that they’re going to contract a deadly disease, and then they’re going to inadvertently pass it on to their loved ones, and then it will be all their fault.

OCD is not a disorder of harm, it’s actually a disorder of hyper-protection. People with OCD are particularly kind, and to hurt another human would absolutely destroy them.

Darkness, darkness, darkness, darkness. On a loop.

When I was a kid, I wanted to be a goalie because of the cool masks. I wanted to put on a mask and hide behind it. But I was also enamored with this feeling I got when I made a save, and I bailed out my teammates, and everybody cheered me for it. At the most basic level, I had this desire to protect my teammates.

When I think back on those years in the NHL, when I was lost completely lost in the darkness, it is painful. But I will never, ever forget the teammates who tried to protect me. I will never forget the guys who went out of their way to make sure I had somebody to talk to, even though I never told them what was really wrong.

For all they knew, I was just an arrogant kid. But they were there for me anyway.

Hell, even the guy I was competing with in Vancouver for the starting job, Kirk McLean, showed me kindness. I remember after one particularly rough game, he walked right up to me on the team plane and put his arm around me and said, “It’s alright, buddy.”

I don’t know why such a simple thing makes me so emotional to this day, but it does. I was so lonely and lost in my head that just knowing that somebody gave a damn about me meant everything to me.

A mental health issue is not a sign of weakness.

After I was diagnosed with OCD, it’s not like everything was magically better. I had good stretches and bad stretches. But you know what? I played professional hockey for nine more years — between the NHL, the AHL and internationally.

A mental health issue is not a sign of weakness.

If anything, athletes who make it to a high level while battling these issues are mentally stronger than the average person. On days when I could barely get out of bed, I was able to push my misery and pain to the side for 60 minutes and go out and win games in the NHL.

So don’t tell me I’m weak.

And that’s why my main message to anyone reading this in the hockey community is this: I know that mental health is not an easy topic to discuss, and I know better than anyone that hockey players will do anything in their power to hide their feelings. But we need to do a better job of saying something when somebody is clearly struggling.

OCD affects roughly 2–3% of the population. There are almost certainly guys in the NHL right now who are suffering from OCD, anxiety or depression and are almost certainly hiding it.

You might know a guy like that in your locker room. You may not want to say anything, because it’s awkward, or because it’s not “what guys do,” even though he’s clearly struggling. People don’t just suddenly withdraw out of nowhere. People don’t completely change their personality simply because of playing time, or because of a coach, or because of a contract dispute.

There’s usually something deeper going on.

I dug a hole for four years. The average person suffers with OCD for six to nine years before being diagnosed. Once you’re in that deep, dark hole, it takes years to fill it back in. It took a long time for me to dig out of mine, but I’m in a much better place now. There is help, and there is hope.

So I have a final message, and it’s for anyone who is reading this who can relate to what I was going through.

When I was going 140 miles an hour, about to drive my car off a cliff, I could not see my future. I could see nothing except for my own dark thoughts. I could not see all the beautiful moments that I have now, that I would have missed out on.

I would have missed out on the birth of my children.

I would have missed lacing up my son’s skates for the first time.

I would have missed listening to my oldest daughter’s beautiful voice when she plays her guitar.

I would have missed seeing my youngest daughter prance onstage in The Nutcracker. I would have missed her waving to me in the crowd.

All those wonderful things … gone.

But I slammed on the brakes that day.

If you are in a dark place right now, thinking that you can’t go on anymore, I know you probably cannot foresee these kind of things in your future. But your brain is lying to you.

It’s lying.

There is a light, however faint, in all this darkness. There is help out there for you. There is hope. I swear to God, hope is real. You will reach the light.

COREY HIRSCH


It was early Sunday afternoon, and I was taking off my shoes in our players’ lounge when I kept hearing my phone buzz. Someone was calling repeatedly. I immediately got an uneasy, sick feeling when I looked at the screen and saw who was calling. It was my close friend Missy. She was hysterical.

“Steve’s gone,” she said.

My best friend in hockey, Steve Montador, was found dead in his home at age 35. Steve was a 12-year NHL vet who battled addiction at certain points in his career before getting sober. Since he walked away from the game due to concussions in 2013, he was struggling to figure out what to do next. But I was still in complete shock and disbelief. For some reason, I started getting dressed for the pre-game skate. As a hockey player, you’re just taught to push through the pain, no matter what. I started putting on my skates when I glanced across the room and saw the stall Monty used to sit in when we played together. I heard his deep, hearty laugh.

I broke down.

I went to the trainers’ room to try and finish tying my skates without anyone noticing the tears. I didn’t want to be a distraction for the guys. It was a big game. I told JT, one of our trainers, what had happened. I tried to put on my best face and finish getting ready back at my locker. That’s when Johnny Toews noticed something wasn’t right. I don’t think I was doing a good job of hiding it. He pulled me back into the lounge and I told him what happened. Johnny hugged me and tried to calm me down. But I was inconsolable. I blew my nose, slammed some cold water and went out for warm up, telling everyone who asked that I’d be fine for the game.

About five minutes into it, I was stretching by the bench and caught the eye of Pauly, one of our trainers. He must have just found out the news, too. His eyes looked sad. He could see I was hurting. I tried to take one more lap but failed to do so without breaking into tears. I walked down the tunnel and straight to the coach’s room and walked into Q’s office. They had just gotten the news about Monty as well. When I could finally speak, I told him I couldn’t play. I didn’t want to be a distraction. I got undressed and left the rink.

I had so many thoughts and questions that needed answers. What had happened? Who was with him? Where was he? Is this real? This can’t be real. Why didn’t he reach out if something was wrong? My mind was racing. Over the days to come, I experienced emotions that I’d never felt before. I never realized my heart and soul could ache as it did from that kind of loss.


When I rejoined the team after taking a few days off for Monty’s funeral, I couldn’t put what happened out of my mind. One night on the road, I started writing down my thoughts on Hilton hotel notepads. Why do NHL players struggle so much with moving on from the game? Why are so many former players I know battling depression? Why does the hockey community ignore them when they’re gone? And why can’t we create a more concrete program to help them transition into real life?

I must have filled up 20 notepad pages. Then, I thought of a memory of Steve lathering himself up with Flexall gel after a pre-game workout and running into the locker room in his underwear. Anything to get a laugh. Anything to make other people happy. That was Steve. I started to laugh. I started to break down.

Finally, I decided to sit down in front of a camera and try to explain why we can’t lose another Steve Montador.

https://www.theplayerstribune.com/nhl-d ... dor-video/
Dark, Dark, Dark, Dark, Dark, Dark, Dark, Dark
https://www.theplayerstribune.com/corey ... dark-dark/

greybeard58
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Joined: Sat Aug 21, 2004 11:40 pm

Post by greybeard58 » Sat Feb 03, 2018 10:26 am

Honestly, I was prepared to never work in hockey again. When I went public with my story about struggling with obsessive-compulsive disorder and depression last year, I was terrified that people wouldn’t understand. I was worried that no one would want to hire me ever again, and that doors would close on me — and maybe worst of all, that people in the hockey community would look at me like I was damaged goods, that I would never work in hockey again.

I mean, I wrote about trying to kill myself. I wrote about struggling daily with dark thoughts that wouldn’t go away no matter what I did. I wrote about feeling weak and confused and sad, which is something that hockey players of my generation — and honestly, anyone of my generation — were told was for “crazy people.” In my day, you simply did not talk about mental health. Ever.

So before I published my story, I honestly was prepared for the worst. But I shared it with my family and with my kids, and they gave me their blessing and support. I was tired of holding everything inside. I wanted people to know the real me and why I was like that when I was younger. After the story went out into the world, well … my fears couldn’t have been further from reality. I was absolutely blown away by how many people reached out to me through text and email and Twitter to say that they’d struggled with similar thoughts and feelings for years — sometimes decades — and either they didn’t know what was wrong with them, or they were afraid to talk to someone about it.

Well, I’m not alone. We’re not alone. Mental health awareness is an enormous, unspoken problem — not just in hockey in Canada and the United States, and not just in sports in general, but also across all other spectrums of society.

Almost one in five … think about that. About twenty percent of the adult population suffers from mental illness, and just because you are a professional athlete or a doctor or a lawyer does not grant you immunity. Anyone at anytime can suffer from a mental health issue and it can strike at any time.

There’s nothing to be embarrassed or ashamed about. We’re all just trying to get through the day. So let’s be open. Let’s talk about it.

In the past year I’ve been at golf tournaments and other events, and 40- and 50-year-old men have walked up to me right out of the blue, with tears in their eyes, and said, “Thank you. You gave me a voice. I went through it, too. Sometimes I still go through it.”

They don’t want me to fix them. They don’t want me to cure them. They know I’m not qualified to do that. They just want me to listen.

I spent years trapped in a cycle of shame and disgust and depression — not telling a single soul what was really going on with me — before I finally reached out and was properly diagnosed with true OCD. It was like the weight of the world fell from my shoulders. I wasn’t cured. But I finally knew what was causing all of my relentless thoughts.

Getting proper help is everything. What I have learned over the past year, in talking with many experts, is just how crucial it is to get an early diagnosis. So many young people from the high-risk ages of 15–24 are struggling with mental health issues and going years without getting treatment. I can tell you, if you’re one of those people who are struggling, that I’ve been down those dark roads. Man, do I know what they feel like. But I swear to you, you should not be afraid of your mental illness or what anyone thinks. Get diagnosed, see a doctor. It will be the best decision you ever make.



Listen, I’ll admit it to you right now: There are days when I still get sad. There are days when I still struggle with stuff. We all do. The reality is that there’s still a lot we don’t know about the brain, and there’s not a permanent “cure” or a set timetable for recovery like there is with a broken arm or a torn ACL. But one of my big missions in life is to make it O.K. to talk about depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts. I would love to get to a point where it doesn’t take someone in the sports world to die in order for us to start talking about mental health again.

Just last week, Washington State quarterback Tyler Hilinski committed suicide in his apartment. Reading the news about his death broke my heart because I’ve been there before, when I was around the same age. I had no idea about all the incredible stuff that was coming in my life — especially the birth of my children and all the wonderful things I would get to see them do.

Of course, we don’t know exactly what Tyler was struggling with, but his death makes me feel like we failed him as a society. We can’t save everyone, but we can create an environment where it’s more than O.K. for athletes to talk about mental health issues — an environment where that kind of honesty is encouraged as a strength, not a weakness.

I’m now a national advocate for mental health for the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Canada. If I had a magic wand, my biggest wish would be that, a year from now, there would be mental health awareness classes in schools and the hockey community across North America. Every single kid should be equipped with a basic knowledge about anxiety, depression, OCD and other mental health issues. To treat these things like they don’t exist is unacceptable.

When I was a kid, no one told me that somebody could wake up one day with obsessive thoughts that would plague them constantly. No one told me that somebody could be so depressed that they wouldn’t be able to get out of bed for weeks on end. No one told me that if any of those things did happen to you that you should get help immediately. Our children need to know this stuff. We fail them as a society if we don’t educate them about mental health.

You know, it’s actually remarkable … I’ve spoken at a few schools about my story, and I was so nervous about how I was going to make a room full of kids pay attention for 10 minutes. But it was the exact opposite of my fears. The kids were completely engaged and interested in what I had to say. Kids are extremely savvy about the things that their peers are struggling with. They want the information.

Every single kid should be equipped with a basic knowledge about anxiety, depression, OCD and other mental health issues.

I’ve been moved by the work that young kids are doing to help each other out. One example in Canada is 18-year-old Myles Mattila from Kelowna, B.C. He started a program when he was 13 after a teammate experienced a mental health crisis. Five years later, Myles’s work has helped his teammates feel comfortable about opening up about their feelings, and prepared them to help someone who tells them, “I don’t feel good.” To see that kind of thing happening is encouraging.

Parents can be another story. Not all of them, of course. Most are open-minded and want their kids to be aware of the realities of life. But some parents are sadly still stuck in the past. Those people are only being naive. Chances are they know someone who is struggling, and it’s my mission to try to end the taboo associated with discussing mental health.

For any athletes who are reading this, who might have gone through hell — or who are still going through hell — and are afraid to tell their story, I can tell you from personal experience, with 100% certainty, that people aren’t going to look at you like you are dangerous or insane. The doors aren’t going to close on you. They’re only going to open. In fact, I’ve had more opportunity presented to me in the last year than ever before. People are only going to want to talk to you and share their own stories.

Twenty-four years ago, I was playing in the NHL and driving around in a sports car. To the outside world, I had it all. But inside, I just wanted my dark thoughts to stop forever. I wanted it so bad that I thought about taking my own life.

Every day that I get to wake up and see my kids do something incredible.…

Every day that I get to go to an arena and talk hockey with somebody.…

Every day that I walk out into the world and meet a complete stranger who just wants to shake my hand and tell me their story.…

I thank God that I’m still here.

Look, I still get sad. I still have bad days. I still struggle. Hell, don’t we all?

So what are we going to do? Let’s talk about it and get some help.

I’m proof that there’s nothing to be afraid of.

COREY HIRSCH / CONTRIBUTOR

You Are Not Alone
https://www.theplayerstribune.com/corey ... not-alone/

greybeard58
Posts: 2510
Joined: Sat Aug 21, 2004 11:40 pm

Hockey duo raises funds for suicide awareness

Post by greybeard58 » Wed Feb 07, 2018 5:41 pm

Hockey duo raises funds for suicide awareness

Two Centennial girls varsity hockey players and National Honor Society (NHS) students teamed up outside of the ice arena walls to raise money for a needy cause while doing what they love, hockey.

Seniors Anneke Linser and Reily Haney have both been in NHS since last January. One of the main goals of NHS is for students to give back to their communities through service projects and volunteer hours. Haney came up with the idea to host a hockey tournament to raise funds for an important cause.

After Haney's stepfather, Chad Leibel, 46, committed suicide on Dec. 15, 2017, the tournament took on a new meaning. Linser then decided the important cause should be suicide awareness.

“We wanted to raise money and awareness while having a lot of fun with a tournament,” Linser explained.

Leibel, formerly of Lino Lakes, was the son of Hal and Pam Leibel of Centerville. He attended Centennial High School, where he played hockey, football and baseball. Haney explained after Leibel had his thyroid removed due to cancer, he was diagnosed with depression.

On Sunday, Jan. 28, about 40 community members gathered at Happy Acres Park in Blaine to duel for a cause in the “Chad's Cup” boot hockey tournament. Each player had to donate $5 to participate, but many players (and their parents) donated additional money. One parent even brought pizza for the group.

Linser and Haney were surprised by the number of people who showed up to support the cause. “We really had to recruit teams because they weren't very interested at first, but when they were playing they thought it was fun,” Linser said.

The tournament ended up raising $331. Linser and Haney are not sure exactly where the proceeds will go just yet, but know it will be given to some type of suicide awareness organization.

Haney wants to tell the community that “suicide is not a good choice because a lot of people will miss you.”

The duo's hope for the future is for NHS members to carry on the boot hockey tournament as an annual event and rotate between beneficiaries preferred by the members.

Hockey duo raises funds for suicide awareness
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greybeard58
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Hayley Wickenheiser

Post by greybeard58 » Wed Feb 07, 2018 5:43 pm

Hayley Wickenheiser to donate brain to concussion research

Retired Canadian hockey star Hayley Wickenheiser will donate her brain after she dies for research on concussions and chronic traumatic encephalopathy, according to the Concussion Legacy Foundation.

The Boston-based organization announced in a news release Tuesday that the four-time Olympic gold medallist, made the pledge along with four-time U.S. Olympian Angela Ruggiero and American bobsledder Elana Meyers Taylor.

More than 2,800 former athletes and military veterans have promised to donate their brains to the foundation.

Wickenheiser experienced dizziness and nausea after getting hit while playing in a Swedish men's pro league a decade ago.

She was also friends with former NHL defenceman Steve Montador who was diagnosed with CTE after his death in 2015.

Wickenheiser has also cited her witnessing of his deteriorating condition as a reason for getting involved with digital therapeutics company Highmark Interactive, which is developing video games to help diagnose and treat concussions and brain injuries.

The Canadian hockey legend retired last year as the country's all-time leading scorer. Hayley Wickenheiser to donate brain to concussion research
4-time Canadian Olympic gold medallist retired from women's hockey last year
http://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/nhl/hay ... -1.4522284

greybeard58
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Joined: Sat Aug 21, 2004 11:40 pm

ELANA MEYERS TAYLOR AND ANGELA RUGGIERO

Post by greybeard58 » Wed Feb 07, 2018 5:47 pm

U.S. OLYMPIANS ELANA MEYERS TAYLOR AND ANGELA RUGGIERO PLEDGE TO DONATE THEIR BRAINS TO THE CONCUSSION LEGACY FOUNDATION TO SUPPORT CTE AND CONCUSSION RESEARCHBack to all press releases ›
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2018
Pledges kick off CLF’s Brain Pledge Month in lead-up to Olympic Games in PyeongChang



The Concussion Legacy Foundation announced today that U.S. Olympic bobsledder and gold medal favorite Elana Meyers Taylor and U.S. ice hockey legend, Hockey Hall of Famer, and four-time Olympian Angela Ruggiero have pledged to donate their brains to the Concussion Legacy Foundation to support CTE and concussion research.

“A concussion nearly ended my career in 2015,” said Meyers Taylor, who will drive the two-woman bobsled in her third Olympics after medaling at both the Sochi and Vancouver games. “I wish I had known more about the risks of returning too quickly, and I am pledging my brain to encourage athletes in all sports and at all ages to get educated through the Concussion Legacy Foundation. I also want to support CTE research, knowing that female contact sport athletes are at risk. The long-term consequences of brain trauma are a major concern in sports, and I’m doing this for every athlete that will follow in my footsteps.”

“As a woman, I know a lot of studies skew towards male subjects, so it’s important to have more female brains to study,” said Ruggiero, who is in Pyeongchang as chair of the International Olympic Committee Athletes’ Commission. “I felt it was important for me to put my foot forward and pledge my brain to help this great cause and to learn more about the effects of sports. If it can help future generations, it’s worth it to me. I hope my actions can inspire others to do the same, specifically other athletes and specifically female athletes because any study has to have a balanced representation of both genders.”

Brain Pledge Month is part of the Foundation’s My Legacy campaign to encourage athletes to make a lasting contribution to concussion and CTE research. Brain Pledge Month will last through February, and for the first time is encouraging controls to pledge in addition to people with a sports or military background at ConcussionFoundation.org/pledge.

“We are honored to have these two Olympic superstars take the #MyLegacyPledge, and are excited to root for Elana Meyers Taylor as she goes for gold,” said Chris Nowinski, Ph.D., co-founder and CEO of the Concussion Legacy Foundation. “We appreciate their leadership and call to action to help us increase the number of female brains, as well as controls, in the brain bank in 2018.”

The Foundation also announced today the brain pledge of a third Olympian, Hayley Wickenheiser, a five-time Olympic medalist for the Canadian women’s ice hockey team. Ruggiero’s U.S. team faced Wickenheiser’s Canadian team in the gold medal game in both the 2002 and 2010 Winter Olympics. They are considered two of the best female hockey players to ever play.

More than 2,800 former athletes and military veterans have pledged to donate their brain to the Concussion Legacy Foundation since 2008, including more than 560 female brain pledges, which represents approximately half of non-football pledges received. Other prominent female athletes that have pledged include U.S. soccer legend Brandi Chastain, former USA Hockey Women’s Player of the Year AJ Griswold, and three-time Olympic gold medalist Nancy Hogshead-Makar.

The Concussion Legacy Foundation is the outreach and recruiting arm of the VA-BU-CLF Brain Bank, a partnership with Boston University and the US Department of Veterans Affairs and led by Dr. Ann McKee. The Brain Bank is now the world’s largest CTE brain bank with subspecialties in concussion, ALS, and other consequences of brain trauma. Nearly 500 brains have been donated, resulting in over 285 CTE diagnoses, which is more than 70 percent of confirmed CTE cases globally. However, fewer than 10 brains have been donated from female athletes, and there are no confirmed cases of CTE in female athletes.

Everyone who pledges their brain to the Concussion Legacy Foundation receives a personalized brain donor card and an informational packet about the brain donation process. Those who take the pledge during Brain Pledge Month are encouraged to spread the word to friends, family and former teammates about the importance of brain trauma research, and to share why they pledged using #MyLegacyPledge.

About Elana Meyers Taylor:
Elana Meyers Taylor is a world-champion athlete who started competing for the USA Bobsled team in 2007. Since then, she has gone on to win two Olympic medals – bronze in Vancouver in 2010 and silver in Sochi in 2014. In 2015, Meyers Taylor made history by winning the first world championship title in women’s bobsled for the United States. Meyers Taylor was a professional softball player prior to bobsledding, and she has also earned two caps with the U.S. rugby 7s team.

About Angela Ruggiero:
Angela Ruggiero competed in the 1998 Olympic Games as a senior in high school, and medaled in the subsequent 2002, 2006, and 2010 Olympic games. Ruggiero was the first woman to play in a regular season professional hockey game in North America in at a position other than goalie when she played for the Tulsa Oilers in a Central Hockey League game in 2005. She was the fourth woman ever to inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2015. Ruggiero now serves on the Executive Board of the International Olympic Committee and is the Chairperson of the IOC Athletes’ Commission, the body that represents all Olympic athletes worldwide. Ruggiero is the co-founder and CEO of the Sports Innovation Lab.

https://concussionfoundation.org/media/ ... dge-brains

greybeard58
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Post by greybeard58 » Mon Feb 12, 2018 1:45 pm

Riley Ball Concussions

Riley Ball
Ball, a sophomore forward, came back from a two-game layoff, the result of a concussion suffered 13 days earlier against Devils Lake. Curl returned after a triumphant three-week tour with Team USA at the world under-18 tournament in Russia.

Meyer said Ball was a scoring dynamo when she left, and she returned with the same knack.

"Her last game she scored five goals, then she missed the last two games with a concussion," the coach said.

Ball said she didn't enjoy sitting while she was on a scoring tear, but tried to be philosophical about the time off.

"It was a little frustrating, playing so well and then having to go out," Ball said. "I had the mindset that I just had to work on getting better ... and not get down on myself."

Ball said she's learned how to ride out time on the sidelines by experience.

"I had two concussions last year," she recalled.

Blizzard skate past Dickinson
http://bismarcktribune.com/sports/baseb ... 49b38.html

greybeard58
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Joined: Sat Aug 21, 2004 11:40 pm

Post by greybeard58 » Mon Feb 12, 2018 1:48 pm

Maddie Rolfes concussion and post-concussion syndrome

Maddie Rolfes

As you look into the Badger weekend in Ohio, there is another important meaning you should note: Concussion Awareness Weekend. Established by the Headway Foundation, a group run by high school and collegiate hockey players who have struggled with and overcome concussion traumas, Concussion Awareness Weekend hopes to remind young players and coaches that concussions should never be taken lightly. They affect the lives of so many people—often afraid to speak out about their injury in fear of being considered weak. The Headway Foundation plans to change that stigma.

Maddie Rolfes, who has battled the effects of concussions in her career, had a few words to share about her experience.

"Suffering from concussions and post-concussion syndrome has been one of the hardest battles I've ever had to go through. The most important thing I can emphasize is that it can happen to anyone, and the more open you can be with your athletic trainers and support staff, the more quickly you can start the road to recovery. Suffering from a concussion doesn't make you weak, in fact, the journey back to health from a concussion has made me stronger than ever."

Baylee's Blog: On to Ohio State
Read more: http://uwbadgers.com/news/2018/2/1/wome ... state.aspx

greybeard58
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Joined: Sat Aug 21, 2004 11:40 pm

Amanda Kessel finally back with Team USA

Post by greybeard58 » Mon Feb 12, 2018 1:56 pm

Olympics: Former Gophers star Amanda Kessel finally back with Team USA

By CHAD GRAFF | cgraff@pioneerpress.com | Pioneer Press

PUBLISHED: January 25, 2018 at 11:45 am | UPDATED: February 12, 2018 at 7:46 am
Two years ago, Amanda Kessel felt like a shell of herself.
Long gone were the nights she spent dominating on a hockey rink, replaced by miserable ones in a dark room watching television.
Concussions suffered within a few months of each other after the 2014 Olympic Games seemed to end hockey for Kessel, the former Gophers star who won the 2013 Patty Kazmaier Award as the nation’s top women’s college player.
Headaches were constant. She often would tell herself that she would return to her old self before long. But at night, she would stare at the ceiling and fear she’d never feel better. She had constant nightmares that she’d never skate again. It lasted nearly two full years.
“My life was so slowed down for those years,” she said.
That’s part of why she said the past two years have felt like “just a couple of months.”
Sparked by a doctor visit and assurance that she’s no more likely than before to suffer another concussion, Kessel returned to hockey nearly two years ago and has returned to her role as a leader on the U.S. women’s hockey team, which opened the 2018 Winter Games with a 3-1 victory over Finland on Sunday.
Memories of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, are still vivid, she said. Despite six points in five games from Kessel, the U.S. lost in overtime to Canada in the gold medal game after blowing a 2-0 third-period lead.
“I have picture-perfect memories of that game and the moments afterward,” Kessel said. “I’m just lucky that hopefully we’ll have another chance. People don’t get second chances very often.”
Kessel’s first second chance came when she started skating again with coach Brad Frost’s Gophers women’s hockey team in the fall of 2015, hopeful to take part in at least a sliver of her final season of NCAA eligibility.
She was cleared to join the team in February 2016, and promptly netted 11 goals in her final 13 games — including the game-winner in the 2016 NCAA title game — and finished as the second-leading scorer in Gophers women’s hockey history.
The only player to produce more? Hannah Brandt, Kessel’s Olympics roommate.
Brandt wasn’t a part of the 2014 Olympics, so Kessel has spent late nights talking with her about the experience.
“I keep telling her, ‘I’m so excited, because there’s no better feeling. I can’t wait for you guys to get there because it’s all that it’s made up to be and more,’ ” Kessel said. “It’s a moment that you cherish and will remember forever.”
Even after returning to the Gophers, Kessel wasn’t guaranteed a spot on the 2018 Olympic team. She attended tryouts in August but didn’t feel like the player who notched 101 points in 37 games as a junior with the Gophers in 2013. That took time, she said.
She scored 18 points in eight games in her first season with the New York Riveters of the National Women’s Hockey League and began training with the U.S. team after that.
In April 2017, she helped the Americans beat Canada in the gold-medal game of the World Championships, producing six points in five games.
“Eventually, after I came back, I just started feeling better and better,” Kessel said. “I was with the Riveters and had a good season there. And then the World Championships is when I felt back to my normal playing at the national level.”
https://www.twincities.com/2018/01/25/o ... -u-s-team/

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