With 14 minutes remaining in the second period, Darrin Madeley, goaltender for the Detroit Vipers in the International Hockey League, gets his legs swept out from under him, taking him down, knocking him unconscious and leaving him with his fourth of seven career concussions. That was in 1995. Twenty two years later, concussions are still an unsolved problem within professional hockey.
According to a study done by the Canadian Medical Association Journal, during a seven-season span from 1997-2004, team physicians reported a total of 559 concussions during regular season games in the National Hockey League (NHL).
“(I have had) seven (concussions), six where I have been knocked out,” Madeley said.