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Canucks’ Alberts (concussion) knows career might be over

Andrew Alberts

Andrew Alberts #41 of the Vancouver Canucks skates in front of the bench with the puck against of the Florida Panthers on January 9, 2012 at the BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise, Florida. The Panthers defeated the Canucks 2-1. (January 8, 2012 - Source: Joel Auerbach/Getty Images North America)

Plagued by post-concussion symptoms, Vancouver defenseman Andrew Alberts knows his nine-year NHL career might be done.

Alberts, 32, was concussed on a hit from Calgary’s Brian McGrattan in late December, one that ended his season entirely and left him with daily headaches nearly five months later.

Here’s more, from the Vancouver Sun:

Alberts, who suffered a serious concussion with the Boston Bruins in 2007, was off skates for 2½ months after the McGrattan hit. He started skating in mid-March, but a comeback was aborted less than two weeks later when Alberts’ condition badly deteriorated. He says now he pushed too hard in his desire to at least practice with teammates before the end of the season.

He has had conflicting recommendations from three different neurologists, but has settled into a pattern of light daily workouts in the morning, consisting typically of about 15 minutes of cardio and some light lifting.

“Basically, the approach is try to stay active instead of sitting around doing nothing,” Alberts says. “I’ve talked to three different neurologists and all three had a different opinion. I’ve challenged my body a little bit because you get sick of just sitting around doing nothing. I did nothing for the first 1½ months and almost started to feel worse.

“I usually get through a 35- or 40-minute workout without a headache, but the headaches come a couple of hours later. Headaches can last an hour … or the rest of the day. You never know. It’s random.”

As far as his playing future goes, the prospects look dim. Alberts turns 33 on June 30... the day before his one-year, $600,000 deal with the Canucks expires. Considering he took a pretty significant pay cut just to come back to Vancouver after the lockout-shortened ’13 campaign -- he made $1.225 million annually on his previous contract -- the prospect of landing another deal, especially given his health concerns, seems remote.