Not exactly a sunshine and rainbows weekend for the NHL when it comes to its concussion problem.
(Whether or not it's an epidemic is a matter of semantics and, in the NHL's case, some legal concerns.)
Sidney Crosby is visiting yet another doctor for his symptoms. Marc Savard doesn't see a "bright future" in his post-concussion hell. Winnipeg Jets leading scorer Evander Kane is out with a concussion, coming to his team with a headache and then being diagnosed.
Now add Danny Briere of the Philadelphia Flyers to the all-concussion team, as news that he suffered a head injury was released by the team after its 4-1 victory over the New Jersey Devils.
Flyers general manager [Paul Holmgren] announced that forward Danny Briere will be out indefinitely due to a concussion. It is not exactly known when Briere suffered the injury, but he now joins teammates James van Riemsdyk and Chris Pronger on the sideline due to concussions.
To go along with concussions suffered by Claude Giroux, Matt Read and Brayden Schenn as well. Sarah Baicker of CSN Philly caught up with Briere, and speculated on the source of the injury:
"I'm not too good right now," Briere said in a text to CSNPhilly.com. "I don't even know what happened."
Briere returned to the game after the [Anton] Volchenkov hit in the first period. But in addition to that hit, he received a high stick to the head from Brad Mills. He was also punched head-on by winger Patrik Elias. Elias did not receive a penalty for the punch.
Volchenkov hit Briere more than once in the game. There was also this Mark Fayne hit later in the game that some are pointing to: