Toronto – A large part of the debate following Anthony Stolarz’s departure from the opening of the Maple Leafs series against Florida was centered on the question of whether the striker of the Panthers Sam Bennett should have been disciplined for having flowed the goalkeeper of Toronto.
A renowned neuroscientist, however, said that one of his main concerns lies in the way in which the player’s injuries were managed on Monday evening in Scotiabank Arena.
“Stolarz was struck twice as he showed possible signs of concussion and he was not withdrawn and evaluated either,” said Chris Nowinski, director general of the condemnation foundation. “I do not remember the last time I saw a player vomiting on the ice, but it makes you very concerned about what was going on in his brain and if (he) had not only a concussion, but a possible bleeding of the brain.
“And I guess the team was sufficiently worried and that is why it was (taken) to the hospital.”
Maple Leafs’ head coach Craig Berube said on Wednesday that Stolarz, who had been released from the hospital, was not spread but would not play in match 2.
The goalkeeper’s mask was released in the first period of the 5-4 victory in Toronto when he stopped a shot by Sam Reinhart. Stolarz seemed to shake his head before putting the mask back on and regaining the game.
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During the second period, it was sunk while Bennett – which was not penalized on the game – patinated in the fold area. Stolarz immediately grabbed his head as he fell on the ice.
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A few minutes later, during a television time, the reruns showed that Stolarz leaned over the boards and vomited in a bucket. He left the match halfway through the period and was replaced by Joseph Woll.
“A second brain lesion after an initial brain injury is supposed to worsen the injury,” said Nowinski, speaking in general terms, from Boynton Beach, Florida. “It is not an equal to two, it can be a plus equal to five.
“You have chemical metabolic changes in the brain that make your brain less resilient at the next injury. This is the main motivation for which we have the return to game protocol.”
According to the brain and evaluation protocol of NHL / NHLPA, the identification and deletion of a player who requires an acute evaluation for a possible concussion is a responsibility for the club.
The team doctor is “only responsible” for the possibility of diagnosis of concussion and to determine when an athlete can come back to play. To help the teams, the league observers – both in and out of birth – also observe the behavior of the players during the matches to identify those who have visible signs of a possible concussion.
In an email, a spokesperson for the Maple Leafs team said that “the observers were not involved” in the departure of Stolarz of the game. It was not immediately clear who made the decision to leave the ice.
As is common during the playoffs, the club has not revealed details on injuries. After the replacement of Stolarz, the team said that it was “evaluated” but did not confirm the media reports that he had left the arena on a stretcher.
Another area of concern for Nowinski was that Stolarz made a spontaneous head to the head after his mask flew.
When this movement is exposed, the athletes reported that they had a concussion of 72% of the time, according to a study by Nowinski co-written published last October in the journal “Diagnostics”.
“The chef is moving earlier in the match, followed with a sudden to collapse in front of the earth for an athlete could increase the suspicion of a concussion,” said Nowinski. “Either independently with the second impact or cumulatively with both. And there is no doubt that it should have been deleted and evaluated after the second (incident).
“The fact that he was left there (to) vomiting in front of the whole world shows that the NHL was not sufficiently conservative in their decision on how to execute their protocol.”
The messages left with NHL and NHLPA were not immediately returned.
Stolarz has played the six games of the Toronto first round of the first round of Torontawa’s first round, displaying an average of 2.21 goals and as a safeguard percentage of 0.901.
He stopped eight nine shots before leaving the match. Woll made 17 relief stops.
This Canadian press report was published for the first time on May 7, 2025.
& Copy 2025 the Canadian press