Sometimes, the scariest thing about concussions, especially for athletes, isn't just the health issues that so often accompany them, but the fact that some players seem to become more and more susceptible to them as traumatic head injuries suffered during their careers mount, sometimes to the point where all it takes is a slight knock in the head for their equilibrium to be thrown off and their body and mind to go into a sort of shell-shocked tailspin.
For Pittsburgh Penguins No. 1 defenseman Kris Letang, an obviously dirty hit by Minnesota Wild forward Jarret Stoll last Saturday caused much greater issues than it rightly should have, raising potential questions as to Letang's long-term future in the NHL. Letang, far and away the most talented player on the Pens' blueline, has a history of concussions.
After suggesting that he'd been "dinged pretty hard there," by Stoll, Letang admitted Wednesday that he suffered significantly as a result of the hit.
"Headaches. Hard headaches. As soon as I got hit. Then it went away," Letang said, per Seth Rorabaugh of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. That's a scary term, "hard headaches," somehow made all the worse by Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan's determination that Letang did not suffer a concussion as a result of the hit.
Letang sat out Pittsburgh's next game against the Winnipeg Jets, though he finished the game against the Wild.
Stoll did not receive supplemental discipline as a result of the hit, but Letang told reporters that he did take issue with the play, which makes sense when you watch the replay.
Letang to the locker room after this Stoll hit (2 min minor for illegal check to the head) pic.twitter.com/90uigCK5Uj
— Stephanie (@myregularface) December 27, 2015
Letang, 28, hasn't played a full 82-game slate since 2010-11, as noted by Yahoo Sports' Josh Cooper. He missed a portion of the regular season finale and the entirety of Pittsburgh's playoff run last year after a Shane Doan hit resulted in a head injury.
For the Penguins, desperate to keep their flagging hopes for this season alive, Letang is a sorely needed piece. But for Letang, there will eventually come considerations beyond hockey.
