Photo: Sandy Nicholson
 
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It?s 2000, and Philadelphia Flyer Eric Lindros is thundering toward the goal, one-on-four, in a playoff game against the New Jersey Devils. Suddenly, Devils defenceman Scott Stevens cuts across and slams a shoulder into Lindros?s face, snapping his head back and sending him down on the ice. Hard. Lindros doesn?t move. It isn?t his first concussion, and it won?t be his last. While Lindros doesn?t suffer any lingering side effects from that hit 17 years ago, he hasn?t forgotten what it feels like to be concussed.
?Everything is off. It?s tough to read; it?s tough to see; you feel fatigued and you have this irritability. You just want to shut off.? Looking back, he says he wishes he?d eased off a little, given himself more time to recover. But, he says, that?s hindsight. ?I?m not forgetting the past, but I do want to put it aside. It?s more about, what can I do going forward"? Ever since he retired in 2007, Lindros has devoted his time to two things: his family (he and his wife, Kina, have three kids?Carl, 3, and 18-month-old twins Sophie and Ryan) and raising awareness about concussions, a series of which cut his career short.
In fact, the first thing Lindros did when he retired after 13 seasons in the NHL was donate $5 million to the London Health Sciences Centre in London, Ont., where he had received treatment and surgery. Since then, he?s been outspoken about concussion prevention and research (?I can really let it ...