Hockey in 2013

^{Hockey fans are overjoyed with an agreement that has been made that will end the 2012 Hockey Strike. The first games of the season are finally scheduled to be played on January 19, 2013. Teams all over the United States and Canada are preparing for the short season and have high hopes in preventing head injuries within the hockey community.
     The first games of the season are scheduled to be played at 3pm and 8pm on Saturday January 19, 2013. It seems that almost every team will be playing, with a total of thirteen games to be completed by the end of the night. The team I declare my favorite, The Detroit Red Wings, will be playing at St. Louis against the Blues. The game is set to begin at 8pm eastern time. The Red Wings will be sporting a white jersey with red sleeves and a red "Red Wings" logo on the chest. With fifteen forwards, eight defensemen, and two goalies the Red Wings are ready for an amazing season.
     According to BrainandSpinalcord.org in 2007, 5,483 persons presented at the hospital with head injuries due to hockey, this number has only been rising. This is quite alarming for anybody that plays such an aggressive sport. The leading cause of traumatic brain injury in hockey is recurring concussion. A concussion, despite the severity, is still a closed head injury. A head injury can occur anytime an outside force causes the brain to violently shift within the skull. This can lead to the bruising, bleeding, and/or tearing of the brain. This can cause a player to feel dazed, confused, or even to lose consciousness. Although symptoms of head injury may take hours or several days to develop they still need to be taken extremely seriously. Symptoms of head injury include headache, lightheadedness, confusion, dizziness, nausea, convulsions, the inability to move part of the body, blurred vision or speech, and possibly loss of balance. All symptoms may not appear to all, but if any present, you should head to the hospital for observation and testing.
     As you may or may not know, Vladimir Konstantinov was a Red Wing defenseman over a decade ago. He was in a serious vehicle accident, after winning the Stanley Cup in 1997, which left him with a severe traumatic brain injury. He has made great progress in his recovery to this point. He is able to utilize painting and art to aid in his rehab. He even had an art show of over 40 of his own personal pieces on display in 2011. He is still attending therapy and progressing daily throughout his rehabilitation. Although Vladimir did not receive his injury while playing hockey, it is a reminder that Traumatic Brain Injury can occur to anybody at any time.
     So what is the NHL doing to prevent future head injuries while playing hockey? They are researching and discussing rule changes to protect the players. One rule is to penalize a player for a blindside hit with a trip to the penalty box or possibly a high fine; it has yet to be decided. They are also discussing various rink sizes, and possibly regulating the rink size for NHL level games. One more stride to prevent head injury in the hockey community is to create a stronger helmet to absorb more shock and further protect the player’s heads.
     Head and brain injuries are always bad, even if they are not from hockey. All the physical contact in hockey makes it a lot higher risk of a head or brain injury. This is why I’m so happy that the NHL is going to try and put a stop to some unneeded contact.}