Postgame: Stars @ Red Wings – 11/8

I didn’t think that the Red Wings played well enough today to win. Apparently my eye test fails, though, as I’ve been told Detroit actually topped the Dallas Stars in score-adjusted 5v5 Corsi.

In the end, that’s really all I have to say about the game because so much was overshadowed by events of the third period.

With about 13 minutes left in the third period, Detroit goalie Jimmy Howard took an unintentional knee to the head from Dallas forward Jason Spezza. Howard struggled to stand as play continued. When the puck was finally frozen, he seemed to argue with the referee about why play wasn’t stopped. He was then checked out by the Red Wings’ training staff and exited the game.

This in a league that says it’s worried about head trauma.

Five minutes later, Jonathan Ericsson was hit in the head by Ales Hemsky. There would have been no penalty on the play had Ericsson not retaliated. Ericsson was given two minutes for roughing. Hemsky received no penalty.

This in a league that says it’s worried about head trauma.

In the game’s final minutes, Howard returned to the Red Wings’ bench. The team later revealed that he was fine and that he wasn’t checked for a concussion.

This in a league that says it’s worried about head trauma. This in a league where there are supposedly spotters in the arena looking for players who may have suffered head trauma. This on a team where Johan Franzen has played in a grand total of two games in the last ten months because he thought he was back from a concussion and then started experiencing symptoms again.

What is clear from the third period today is that the league is not concerned about head trauma. The Red Wings are not concerned about head trauma. And the players are not going to stop trying to play through head trauma.