Apparently the chore of answering a series of questions this week both in New Jersey and in Manhattan about the Eric Staal hit that concussed his brother, Marc, in Raleigh on Feb. 22 became a bit too much to bear for both Carolina coach Paul Maurice and for Eric Staal himself.
Because following the team’s morning skate at the Garden preceding last night’s 5-1 loss to the Rangers, both of the aforementioned men for the first time, and in strikingly similar terms, sought to distance the Hurricanes captain from the injury to his younger brother that has sidelined the Rangers alternate captain all season.
“It was a clean hit and his brother came back and played,” Maurice said, referring to the high blow that was laid on the defenseman while he was entangled with Carolina’s Joni Pitkanen after being hooked with 50 seconds to go in the second period. “So to me, he’s not the reason there’s a concussion.”
Marc missed the three games immediately following the match in Carolina with what the Rangers said was a knee injury. The organization has since insisted that he did sustain a knee injury as a result of a check he took on the first shift of the Rangers’ shootout victory in Carolina in addition to the concussion that was not disclosed until Staal was held out of drills on the third day of training camp.
After returning to the lineup, Marc missed two games with post-concussion symptoms in mid-March, though the Rangers did not divulge that information. He then played the remainder of the year and in the playoffs against Washington, during which he averaged 28:01 in the five-game, first-round series.
The Rangers’ alternate captain then began experiencing intermittent headaches at some point during the summer, but management appeared to have been caught completely by surprise when symptoms re-appeared just prior to camp.
The Post reported yesterday that Staal will be examined in Boston next week by concussion specialist Dr. Robert Cantu. Staal was previously ordered by Cantu to cease all physical activity for a one-month period, The Post also exclusively reported, when he was examined during the week.
Eric Staal earlier in the week had acknowledged that he felt badly for delivering the hit that concussed his brother, while at the same time suggesting he did not realize who he was checking and that in any event it was part of the game.
Yesterday though, he adopted the same platform of denial espoused by his coach.
“There were a lot of steps that happened after that hit that probably put him in the position he’s in now,” Eric said. “I don’t think it’s just that hit.
“It’s not like I hit him and he’s been down since that point. He played and came back. Now he’s healing and on the right track to getting back.”
Perhaps it’s true that Marc might be playing now if he had not returned last season. But perhaps not. There is simply no way to know.
Perhaps Eric and Paul Maurice would have suggested the Ranger’s injury was not caused by the hit in Raleigh, but actually was a result of the crunching open-ice blow with which Marc nailed Calgary’s Matt Stajan at the Garden last on Nov. 22.
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The Rangers, who have a six-game winning streak, had previously won six straight just three times since the 2004-05 lockout, twice in 2005-06 (six straight and seven straight) and once in 2009-10 (seven straight).