Rangers' Filip Chytil and the ongoing concussion question facing NHLers: When is enough enough?

Pat Lafontaine doesnt remember who told him this, but it still resonates with him.

Lafontaine is 28 years removed from the end of his Hall of Fame career, one that like many NHL players, was shortened in places and finally ended by concussions.

When he sees a current player like New York Rangers center Filip Chytil miss time with a concussion and its aftereffects, he is reminded of the incredible desire to play and keep playing despite the repeated hits to the head.

Advertisement And of this quote he heard long ago.

An athlete dies twice, Lafontaine said.

Theres the end of your actual life and then theres the end of your playing career.

When you retire from something you love, something thats consumed your entire life to that point, it feels like a death.

Letting go is one of the hardest decisions youre ever going to make.

As anyone on the medical side of hockey will tell you, no two concussions are the same.

No two people are the same so it makes perfect sense.

How a player reacts to a blow to the head or a concussion or even to repeated concussions varies from player to player.

What all players have in common is what Lafontaine talked about: the will.

The desire to keep going in spite of injury or whatever other obstacles stand in their way.

When we see Chytil helped off the ice as he was after a collision with Rangers teammate KAndre Miller on Nov.

14 and we know Chytils history with concussions how he missed all but 10 games last season following a high-speed collision with former teammate Jesper Fast we cant help but wince.

Fans post on social media about how Chytil, still only 25, should think about stepping away from hockey to preserve his quality of life down the road.

But to say that is to be dismissive of that defining trait that all professional athletes, hockey players in particular, have.

Theyre different than us.

Thats why theyve reached the highest level of the game.

Theyve never taken no for an answer, said Rick Nash, who retired in 2018 due to concussion impacts after a 15-year career.

Especially when youve got guys who are early in their careers, guys who havent lived out their full dreams in hockey, that definitely factors into it.

When youre still trying to establish yourself, its tough.

As you get older, your priorities change.

Advertisement Some of the things I thought and even said when I was younger, I cant believe them when I think about them now, Kyle Okposo said with a laugh.

When I first met (my wife) Danielle, I told her, Hockeys always going to be first.

Thats how you are growing up.

You never think anythings going to be more important than that.

If Id had my first big concussion at 19 or 21, Id have thought about things a lot differently than I did.

Lafontaine, Nash and Okposo had very public battles with concussions and their aftermath.

Lafontaines first big concussion came while playing for the New York Islanders in the 1990 playoffs on a shoulder to the head from Rangers defenseman James Patrick.

Lafontaine was unconscious on the Madison Square Garden ice for nearly 30 seconds, according to the Islanders medical trainer back then; Rangers fans caught up in the rivalry actually rocked the ambulance carrying Lafontaine to a Manhattan hospital.

Nash cant recall his first concussion.

Okposos first big one came in a Sabres practice in March of 2017 and set off a chain reaction of symptoms and subsequent mental-health events that took months to recover from.

What all three of them had in common was that they continued playing.

Okposo, who spent weeks in a Buffalo hospital trying to regain control of his life, eventually came to terms with the possibility of his career ending, but it never quite came to that.

I was honestly prepped to be done after the initial one, said Okposo, who suffered two more concussions in games after that but didnt retire until last spring after winning a Stanley Cup with the Florida Panthers .

I was at peace if I never played another game again.

What helped all three and what helps current players like Chytil is how much neurology and the science around concussions have advanced.

Lafontaine saw Dr.

James Kelly and the two have been friends for three decades.

Kelly has become a specialist in military head trauma, but he was Lafontaines source of knowledge and confidence that he could keep playing each time he suffered a concussion during the 1990s.

Advertisement Nash, Okposo and Chytil actually have their specialist in common: Dr.

Jeffrey Kutcher, whose Henry Ford Kutcher Clinic in Michigan is the No.

1 destination for brain-injured NHLers.

Sidney Crosby saw Kutcher when he missed a year and a half with concussion issues 13 years ago.

Its important to have that specialist you can trust, Chytil said.

Some young guys are still pretty naive about concussions, but theres so much more conversation around these issues, around mental health, at an earlier age, Okposo said.

There are just more people taking an interest in your health as a player, and theres a lot more information out there.

Its not like I started out playing 30 years ago, but its so different now, for the better.

The ultimate question for every player whos had one or more concussions and symptoms that have impacted their careers is: When do you stop? How do you know? Lafontaine missed nearly all of the 1996-97 season, his last in a Sabres uniform, due to a concussion from a big hit.

He signed with the Rangers that summer and was among the teams leaders in points when he collided with teammate Mike Keane.

He experienced the familiar aftereffects: headaches, sensitivity to bright light and fatigue.

But it was Kelly, his specialist, who examined him and took the decision out of Lafontaines hands in a way.

Even when you trust the professionals and they say its time, its easier said than done, Lafontaine said.

I was 34, Id played for 15 years, 1,000 games.

I had a wife, three kids.

If I hadnt been married, if itd been 10 years earlier, I honestly dont know if Id have listened to what the doctors were saying.

But you understand whats going on in your life makes a huge difference.

Nash also had three kids when the 2017-18 season ended.

Hed missed six weeks that March with a concussion just after the Rangers traded him to the Bruins .

Nash played all 12 playoff games but wasnt the player hed been.

Even at that, there were plenty of offers that summer for him to continue.

Advertisement Id had my hockey fix, said Nash, who is now the Blue Jackets director of hockey operations.

My game wasnt in my prime, but there were definitely some good options to continue.

My kids were young and you just never know what the next (concussion) is going to do.

But I feel like with those things unless someone is directly telling you to stop, the decision is always going to be extremely difficult.

Okposo had a family too in 2017, but he was also only 29.

When Kutcher and the Sabres medical staff cleared him to play, he was on board with it.

And he was able to finish off his career the way he wanted, competing for and winning his first ring.

When I had the second one (against the Senators ), I was like, What do I need to do to preserve my quality of life?' he said.

But I went to see (Kutcher) and when you get that all-clear, theres nothing holding you back.

Chytil has spoken about not having any fear when he returned for the second round of the playoffs in the spring.

If I was scared, he said, I could play somewhere in the fourth league in Czech and enjoy my life.

Its a window into how players think.

Theyre used to dealing with all sorts of physical injuries and pushing through.

Brains and concussions are different, and players understand that now.

Even when Kutcher cleared Chytil after the Nov.

14 collision, Chytil still didnt return to action until this past Saturday, a 16-day absence.

I know my body.

I know whats going on, even with my head, he said.

With what I went through last year as well, there have been hard moments.

...

When there is an opportunity to be back and my whole body feels great, I jump back in.

We as fans and observers will always cringe.

We will always wonder how much more a player can take, even if its more about how much more we can take watching players potentially deteriorate before our eyes.

And players, because theyre players, will always want to play.

Advertisement Were brought up and taught to overcome, Lafontaine said.

You overcome losses in games, you overcome adversity, you overcome a 3-1 deficit in a series.

You find a way.

Theres tremendous belief in overcoming that makes athletes who we are.

And theres knee injuries, theres broken bones.

Why should a concussion be any different? Weve learned so much about the brain and concussions over the years, but theres no crystal ball.

And if you leave even a little bit of room for a player, whats he going to do? Hes going to play.

(Photo: Jared Silber / Getty Images).

This article has been shared from the original article on theathleticuk, here is the link to the original article.