All aboard the concussion train

It's disconcerting. The amount of concussions being reported in wake of improved diagnosis and increased awareness is exactly what is needed to keep professional athletes from seriously damaging their lives upon retiring from playing the game they love.

It's a tough balancing act for a fan. Nobody wants to see their favourite stars turned into vegetables but it's getting to the point where players are dropping left, right and centre.

SEE: (USA TODAY: Concussion tracker: http://travel.usatoday.com/gallery/NHL+concussion+tracker/G2848)

Fans are witnessing the berth of a new era in NHL history where iron-man streaks like Martin St. Louis's 499 straight games will become a thing of the past.

It's not as if players are being knocked out and put on the shelf for as long as Sidney Crosby has. Ottawa's Milan Michalek returned to action last night against the Montreal Canadiens after missing only five games with a a concussion.

Same thing goes for Claude Giroux who missed four games with a concussion before returning to the Flyers' lineup in star-studded fashion netting four points in a 4-1 win over the Dallas Stars.

God knows how long Shea Weber will be out for but the question I ask is how long will concussion related injuries be front-page, top headline news before it becomes accepted as just another part of the game?

An unfortunate part, of course, but given the amount of concussions we've seen and the talks I've had and read with former NHLers who admit to having an upwards of 10 concussions in their career, it seems as if this injury has been and always will be commonplace.

According to NextGen Journal: "In the NHL only 17% of concussions result from illegal hits to the head. In fact, most of the concussions in the NHL, about 70%, result from either legal hits or accidents."

(SEE: http://nextgenjournal.com/2011/12/toughness-vs-the-brain-concussions-in-professional-sports/)

The players need to be protected to ensure that they live fulfilling lives after hockey but the risk of injury is the exact reason why they're compensated so much salary-wise. Face it, there is no reason why an athlete should be making millions of dollars other than the threat to their health.

So let them make up their minds. Let them govern themselves on the ice. The NHL will do what they can to limit the amount of dirty hits but eliminating concussions is impossible. Simply impossible.