The Dallas Stars have been surprisingly successful this season, but they’ve relied heavily on two players: elite forward Brad Richards and oft-injured goalie Kari Lehtonen. The team has made it through patches when Lehtonen was banged up, but Richards went down with a mysterious injury just as things were really unraveling for the Stars.
As it turns out, Stars coach Marc Crawford told Mike Heika that Richards is suffering from concussion-like symptoms.
Obviously, this is awful news for the Stars and their fans, although Heika writes that it might not be as bad as it sounds. The team is currently taking a “day-to-day approach” with the elite playmaker’s head injury and Crawford even said that Richards could play again on Tuesday if his Monday workouts go well.
It’s hard not to be a little skeptical about that last bit, but here is an excerpt from Heika’s report.“It will be important for us to get back there and see how he’s doing and see if he can go through a practice, and then move on from there,” Crawford said. “We want to do what’s best for Brad, and so we’ll move forward cautiously.”
News like this often is seen as extremely concerning, but Crawford said it could also work out that Richards feels fine, goes through practice on Monday and then is ready to play on Tuesday against New Jersey. He said a lot depends on how Richards is feeling each day.
Such an approach seems almost a little cavalier considering the concussion problems that have troubled players such as Sidney Crosby and Marc Savard, but it’s important to note that the severity of concussions can range wildly. Perhaps Richards’ is a more “mild” case, but obviously, the Stars are still in the process of learning about his condition.
We’ll keep you updated, but it’s certain the Stars must attempt to end their three-game losing streak without their best player tonight in a contest against the Vancouver Canucks.