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Marian Gaborik leaves game with concussion; did Rangers ignore his condition?

New York Rangers v New Jersey Devils

XXX XXXX #00 of the New Jersey Devils is checked by XXXX XXXXX #00 of the New York Rangers during the first period of an NHL hockey game at the Prudential Center on February 18, 2011 in Newark, New Jersey.

Paul Bereswill

Today’s Rangers 4-2 loss to Philadelphia ends up hurting them in more ways than in just the standings. Underachieving superstar goal scorer Marian Gaborik left today’s game with a concussion.

There’s a catch in the whole matter, however, because after the game Rangers coach John Tortorella said that the injury may not have happened during today’s game.

Andrew Gross of Ranger Rants gets the word from Tortorella in what should once again re-ignite the discussion about concussions.

“It didn’t happen this game, I’m not sure when it happened,” Tortorella said at first, before softening those comments. “He’s been off and on. I don’t know when it happened.”

“Gaborik was playing along,” Tortorella said, adding Gaborik came out of today’s day after complaining of being off, which, Tortorella said, was the first time Gaborik had given the Rangers any concrete indication. “I know he’s had some conversations off the ice, he just wasn’t dead on. But that’s something we’re going to have to talk to him and Rammer (trainer Jim Ramsey) about.”


The Rangers don’t have a timetable for how long Gaborik will be out, but considering they weren’t totally sure what was wrong with him in the first place (or willfully ignored it) expect them to be even more careful in how they treat him now that they’re absolutely sure what the problem is. As with most stories concerning concussions these days, it makes us think about how things were handled with Sidney Crosby. Crosby played against Tampa Bay and was hit by Victor Hedman in the next game after getting hit hard by Washington’s Dave Steckel during the Winter Classic.

If the Rangers ignored Gaborik’s condition or if Gaborik wasn’t open with his trainers about what was bothering him, this makes matters a lot worse for New York as they can’t afford to lose any offense from their lineup. While Gaborik has struggled this season, taking a player out of the lineup with his abilities hurts. If his initial injury was ignored somehow, the way team’s handle concussions and concussion-like symptoms are going to be focused in on with much finer detail. Either way, the Rangers lose out and their struggles of late will just be made worse without Gaborik.