Million Dollar Question

By: Steven Blahut

For Nick Molinaro hockey is everything, from the Saturday nights watching hockey night in Canada to dedicating his life to hockey it’s safe to say it has taken over his life.

Over his playing career Molinaro suffered a few injuries and a couple concussions while playing at minor and junior levels, but none would be as serious as the one suffered at age 22. Nick explained to me that it was just around playoff time, a rivalry game. When an opposing player took his leg out from under him and caused him to fall back and hit his head off the ice knocking him out right there and then.

What happened after would break all laws of the game, the player than repeatedly punched him in the face while he was already out cold. Nick was already knocked out at this point and remembers only what his teammates have told time and what the footage shows. He calls this the nail in the coffin to end his career once and for all.

“He came down and started punching me in the head and made it a lot worse…. Until one of my teammates came in and got him off me before it got worse, I may  not of been walking if it got worse.” Said Molinaro.

The Recovery

Concussions recovery can range anywhere from a week to months to even the possibility of never properly healing. Dr. Brittney Boot works at Progressive Sports Medicine and explains the process that their clinic takes to help hockey players treat a possible head injury. “Complete Concussion Management Data Base” is the rehab process that Boot explains here that Progressive will take to determine the best way to treat the concussion.

What the CCMDB consist of is, a nine-step protocol that Dr. Boot and the rest of the clinic takes to ensure their athletes are able to return safely. The protocol consists of first analyzing the degree of the concussion, then it is starting the process of returning to the ice, this will include resting, doing exercises, ect. Than the process of start training on the ice and getting back into shape and game speed, this will include skating drills, shooting drills, conditioning drills, ect.

For Nick he explained that there were some challenging times post injury whether that was coming to terms with the fact that the code of hockey was broken or the effect it had on his schooling, forcing him to drop out of his program.

The Aftermath

As the famous cliché goes there’s light at the end of the dark tunnel, that was the case for Nick as he turned to coaching hockey to help him stay connected to the game he loves. He reveled that he loves the strategic side of the game too much to step away for good and hopes one day that the opportunity will arise to coach in professional hockey.

If there is anything to take from Nick’s story is that you should never take a low point in your life for a negative, take it as motivation to strive for something greater.