Mika Zibanejad admits he shouldn’t have been playing
Concussions can be tricky things, but Mika Zibanejad still thinks he could have been more truthful with himself.
At least that’s the way he looked at it on Monday, when the Rangers’ top-line center finally got back with his team during a light morning skate before a Garden match against the Stars. That was set to be his sixth straight game out the lineup, but he could be cleared for contact as soon as Tuesday and then be able to participate in a full practice with the team with the hope he could return on Wednesday night in Ottawa.
But speaking on Monday morning before the Rangers’ 2-1 shootout loss to the Stars, Zibanejad was able to look back with some clarity on the situation that began when he suffered his concussion on Nov. 24, getting hit late in a Friday night game by Red Wings’ forward Darren Helm. He was tested for a concussion after the game and cleared. The next day was an off-ice workout and, looking back on that day, Zibanejad said, “Maybe I told myself I was feeling a little bit better than I was.” He had been tested that day and cleared, as well.
Then he played on Sunday afternoon against the Canucks, a dangerous prospect in light of all that has become known about concussions, especially how playing so soon after suffering a concussion can severely increase the risk of long-term effects. In retrospect, Zibanejad knows that could have been quite a bad decision.
“Maybe shouldn’t have played Sunday,” he said. “But it’s easy to be wise now afterwards.”
What the 24-year-old Swede was going through is medically explained as a delayed onset of concussion symptoms. He said this past Monday, a day off for the team, was a day that “kind of cooled things down a little bit, then Tuesday didn’t feel right again.” He actually took the morning skate that Tuesday before a Garden match against the Panthers, but knew it was time to do something about it.
“It was a decision made by all of us to kind of pull aside and see what’s going on,” Zibanejad said.
It was a tough situation for the team, as well. Zibanejad was passing the tests and had been telling the doctors (as well as himself) that he was feeling fine. There is little a coach can do in that spot besides trust the player.
“Players don’t make the information available, there’s no way for us to know,” Alain Vigneault said. “Because there are hits like that every time they are on the ice.”
As far as trying to protect players from themselves, that can only happen when the coaching staff and others know that there is even a problem to begin with.
“If he would have mentioned it, we would have [taken him out] right away,” Vigneault said. “There is protocol to go through, the different steps. If we don’t get the information, there’s not a lot we can do there.”
Zibanejad said he has had “a few” concussions during his first six years in the league, which began when the Senators took him with the No. 6-overall pick in the 2011 draft. He was traded to the Rangers in the summer of 2016 in the deal that sent Derick Brassard to Ottawa, and Zibanejad signed a five-year, $26.75 million deal as a restricted free agent this summer.
Last season, he missed almost two months with a broken leg, and when he returned, he was hardly the same player. The hope for him and the Rangers is that does not happen again.
“It’s good to be back with the guys again,” he said. “Can’t look ahead too much in a situation like this. Felt good being out there again. See how the rest of the day goes, and take it from there.”