The bad news continues for Matt Murray. He was diagnosed with a concussion and will be out indefinitely. This is the third concussion of his career and he hasn’t yet reached the age of 25. This is not good, obviously. Spatial awareness and other cognitive functions are a must for any athlete. I would argue it is even more important for an NHL goaltender who is facing the hardest and most accurate shots in the history of the sport.
Back in 2012 Nick Costonika had a nice article about NHL goaltenders and recovering from concussions. You can find that link here
Ryan Miller talked about coming back from his two concussions
“My issue every time has been, it affects your focus and concentration,… Miller said. “You feel like you have ADD. You feel like you have extreme ADD when you have the headaches and you have the uncomfortable ‘off’ feeling. I mean, I think history can kind of show I’m a very intense, focused person, and when I can’t even get through a 10-, 15-minute task at home, which I can usually sit down and do, something’s wrong.…“Your brain controls everything – your body and even emotions,… Miller said. “You feel depressed. You feel like you can’t focus. And obviously if you go on the ice and try to play hockey at the highest level as a goaltender with pucks coming at you and trying to maintain awareness, read the plays, it’s definitely not a great situation.…
“Sometimes you’re ‘off,’ and is it because still there’s some lingering symptom or is it just because you’ve been off for so long and you’re just not quite back?… Reimer said. “When I came back, as a goalie, that’s the toughest thing is being able to focus for 60 minutes – or one of the key things. When you’re out, your brain relaxes, per se. Your brain needs to work out again so it can focus, just like your body needs to get back in shape.…
This isn’t great news for Matt Murray who has not been at his best and now his brain is not going to be functioning at an optimal level for a little while. It would be in Matt Murray’s best interest to sit out for an extended period of time to make sure his brain has the time to heal.
Pittsburgh will need to rely on Casey DeSmith and Tristan Jarry. I don’t like their odds of success if the Penguins don’t clean up the high danger chances they are bleeding at the present time.
Thanks for reading!