I had a press credential to this game. No one in the box knew why Sid was laboring back to the bench until we looked to the monitors and saw the replay. Steckel absolutely knew what he was doing. Did he intend for this result? Probably not. But he knew exactly what he was doing.
In his presser after and in the locker room Sid definitely looked glassy eyed. I’d seen that one other time, the previous year when Cooke got destroyed by Evander Kane in Atlanta. After that game Cooke looked shallow eyed. Sid had the same look. Present but not there. Amazing how he kept playing, shameful that it was allowed to happen by some horrid medical staff.
The only bright spot is Sid leaves behind a legacy beyond the NHL. His concussion issues pushed the concern of them to the forefront and changed the way they’re looked at. The timing of it and CTE studies completely altered the way head injuries are seen, punished and treated for the better.
But man, f*** Steckel.