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Joffrey Lupul the latest Leaf team won’t admit has a concussion

By Cam Charron

Apr 5, 2013, 14:03 EDTUpdated: Apr 5, 2013, 13:57 EDT

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Before Jake Gardiner had concussion-like symptoms, Toronto Marlies head coach Dallas Eakins defiantly said that Gardiner “wasn’t in a concussion state” after sustaining a hit against the Rochester Americans.

When Nazem Kadri was hit in the head, the Marlies officially said that Kadri had “headaches” and was eventually held out of the lineups for two weeks with a rib injury.

James Reimer’s agent last season tweeted out that Reimer was “symptom-free since April”. It was disclosed that Reimer did, in fact, miss 18 games with a concussion last season, and six at the end of the season with a more mild “upper body injury” which was apparently not related to his previous concussions.

So forgive me if I’m wary about Joffrey Lupul’s injury status after Lupul took a hit to the head and got up wobbly last night against the Philadelphia Flyers.

I don’t claim to be a medical expert. This sort of information is imported from South Carolina, where Jo Innes is located. Innes writes the excellent ‘Quiet Room’ blogs over at the Backhand Shelf and has shared her thoughts before on Lupul’s back injury that kept him out of the lineup for two half seasons.

Okay, so according to the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (aka VERY SMART PEOPLE), “A concussion is an injury to the brain that results in temporary loss of normal brain function”
So if you get hit in the head and are woozy after, then that could be a concussion. The NHL says you’re supposed to get evaluated by a doctor if you show any of:
Loss of consciousness
Motor incoordination/balance problems
Slow to get up following a hit to the head
Blank or vacant look
Disorientation
Clutching the head after a hit
Visible facial injury in combination with any of the above

Here’s the hit again:

Here’s the commentary from Sportsnet Ontario:

Bowen: Lupul is very slowly making his way over to the Leaf bench.
…
Bowen: Lupul… is really—
Millen: He’s out.
Bowen: —is really woozy.
Millen: He’s out on his feet. I can tell you that.
Bowen: He just got to the bench and he missed the door by about three feet.

Here’s a screenshot of Joffrey Lupul missing the bench:

Here’s a screenshot of Lupul on the bench:

That second image may as well be a GIF and you wouldn’t be able to tell. Lupul was not moving on the bench once he got in the doorway. After the hard contact to the head, Lupul displays symptoms 2, 3, 4 and 5 that Jo listed.

There’s more from Jo:

So according to the league’s own rules, Lupul had signs of a concussion (I guess, I haven’t seen the video). The Leafs are the WORST for not admitting when someone is concussed. THE. WORST.
So does Lupul have a concussion? Beats the shit out of me. Maybe. Do the Leafs habitually lie about what’s wrong with players? Yes. Are teams ever careless about letting guys play who shouldn’t? Yes. Is it a miracle none of them are permanently brain damaged? Yes. Except they ARE because Derek Boogaard and Bob Probert.

Remember, Colby Armstrong somehow missed Leafs medical testing last year and played through a concussion. It’s worth noting that AFTER all this and BEFORE Lupul missed practice today, Randy Carlyle pegged his chances last night of practising at 50-50, according to Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston.

Lupul will miss some games with an upper body injury, the team won’t admit he has a concussion and he’ll probably come back too early, is how I guess this plays out. We’ve seen it before with Gardiner, with Kadri, with Reimer and with Armstrong. It’s not exactly news the Leafs are terrible at handling this sort of stuff.

Updated with some wisdom from Jeffler: