Daly also said that concussion spotters somehow don't consider the injury history of each player when making decisions.
Sidney Crosby was diagnosed with another concussion in game 3 of the Penguins series with Washington after taking a stick to the head and then smacking his head to the ice.
"I haven't been here forever but, one, I've never been in a Game 7", said Washington forward T.J. Oshie, who opened the scoring with a first-period power-play goal.
The Washington Capitals hope to win their third straight game and get over that playoff hump by getting to the Eastern Conference Finals.
Crosby crashed headfirst into the boards in the first period of Monday night's Game 6 loss to the Capitals.
The NHL may face criticism about its concussion spotting program after Pittsburgh Penguins star Sidney Crosby was not pulled from a Stanley Cup Playoff game on Monday night.
After Alex Ovechkin dukes it out with Sidney Crosby and company one last time, Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers will look for their first conference finals appearance together. Crosby has had four documented concussions. Washington went up 3-1, then saw its best season ever come undone at the hand of unheralded Montreal goaltender Jaroslav Halak. Those who left missed their side ruining Braden Holtby's shutout bid with goals from Jake Guentzel and Evgeni Malkin 52 seconds apart, but it was too little too late as the Capitals continued building momentum towards a Game 7 in Verizon Center. Streaming's becoming an important part of the picture, and it's definitely nice for sports networks that it's being counted more effectively these days, but it's still rather a drop in the bucket next to TV. Concussions and their long-term implications are among the hottest-button issues in sports.
In order for the Penguins to win Game 7, they will have to come out with the same fire the Capitals brought out for Games 6 and 7; Sullivan will demand nothing less. "Those are two separate things".
If I had access to Crosby, I would probably only get to ask one question because I doubt he would want to answer it and I would get escorted out. He reported no symptoms.
"Yep. Yeah. Pretty standard", Crosby told NHL Network, affirming doctors had cleared him to keep playing. The protocol has to be interpreted literally to mandate a removal.
The NHL revamped its policies entering this season by implementing a staff of Central League Spotters, positioned in the NHL's Player Safety Room in NY, who can remove a player if he displays any symptom or sign of a concussion.
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Dr. Nelilank Jha, a Toronto based neurosurgeon who has consulted with the National Hockey League, believes player input is important. This time Crosby was even slower to get back up and to the bench. Crosby and Malkin will have to be no less than excellent on both ends of the ice Wednesday night.
The fourth is a player exhibiting a "blank or vacant look". Can't say with any certainty. That's a blink of the eye in your day.
Despite his previous concussion, and despite looking dazed after the fall, the NHL's concussion "spotters" - people in NY who watch all games and have the authority to remove a player from action to be evaluated for a concussion - did not remove Crosby from the game.
"Exceptions:" the policy continues.
"The medical staff and (concussion) spotters are responsible for identifying players to go through protocol", Sullivan clarified, per USA Today.
Daly said he can't answer whether the league would consider adding hitting the boards to the list requiring mandatory removal from play. "Having that research data is good to have, but it doesn't mean that there aren't going to be concussions caused by heads hitting boards, and so you shouldn't restrict your spotters".
The Penguins, by the letter of the law, did nothing wrong Monday night.
Because of those guidelines, and because the Penguins' doctors deemed it unnecessary, Crosby was not evaluated for a concussion.
But there's a flaw here, at least one. In advance of the Penguins' Game 7 Wednesday against the Capitals in the Eastern Conference semifinals, the players have shared those experiences with each other. The impact could be on Crosby's future - and not on the ice.
Sounds like the National Hockey League might have to make some changes.
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