When Kyle Wellwood first started playing hockey in the late 1990s, he didn鈥檛 even know what a concussion was.
鈥淲e didn鈥檛 even talk about concussions,鈥� said Wellwood, who kicked off his hockey career in Ontario鈥檚 Golden Horseshoe Junior B League before playing for the Vancouver Canucks and the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Ontario league, which is a level below the B.C. Hockey League, had no concussion protocol.
While things have improved since then, with the implementation of Hockey Canada鈥檚 protocol, players can, and still do slip through the cracks.
The BCHL is hoping to stop that through a new partnership with the app HeadCheck, which will allow coaches and athletic therapists to assess a player鈥檚 condition in 5-10 minutes. If the test shows negative results, the player will be pulled from the game and assessed by a medical professional.
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鈥淚t鈥檚 a way of standardizing the process and making sure we have record of this as a league,鈥� said BCHL commissioner John Grisdale.
Players will now all undergo baseline concussion testing before they ever set foot in an arena.
鈥淲e鈥檝e seen situations where players can be lying down after a hit, carried off, and next thing we know they鈥檙e back in,鈥� said Grisdale. 鈥淭his isn鈥檛 going to stop that, but coaches and trainers have to be accountable for the decision made to put [that player] back in.
鈥淚f the trainer says, 鈥業 told him to stay out,鈥� [the] player said he wanted to go in, and [the] coach said go back in 鈥� well, then we have a problem.鈥�
It鈥檚 a stark contrast to Wellwood鈥檚 hockey playing days.
鈥淚t was wake up and go,鈥� he said. 鈥淵ou just wanted to play so you waited till you could physically skate and then you played.鈥�
Surrey Eagles coach Brandon West sees it as a promising step, but admitted he didn鈥檛 think anything could fully solve hockey鈥檚 concussion woes.
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鈥淲e鈥檙e never going to put an athlete in a situation where their health is in jeopardy,鈥� said West. 鈥淏ut if I had a dollar for every time someone had their bell rung and didn鈥檛 get tested鈥︹��
Added Grisdale: 鈥淭here are always ways to fool the baseline test. The reality is we hope we are one step better than we were last year.鈥�
PHOTOS: HeadCheck, the app:
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