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Post by MPLABBE on Nov 17, 2002 10:59:48 GMT -5
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ www.canada.com/montreal/sports/teams/canadiens/story.html?id={20F61E01-D1CB-4689-836A-17FC69A8CCA1}~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Odjick's headache could turn to heartache Concussion has enforcer worried RED FISHER The Gazette Sunday, November 17, 2002 Almost three months after his season might have ended before it began, Gino Odjick remembers - because the pain and discomfort won't allow him to forget. The never-ending headaches. The waves of nausea that wash over him like shivers of fear. The not knowing what the next minute, hour or tomorrow will bring. Post-concussion syndrome. It wasn't supposed to happen to this constantly cheerful, smiling, gap-toothed mountain of a man. It could have happened during a regular-season game, because Odjick always has brought everything to the arena - but how could it happen during a harmless, late-August practice with a few fellow-NHLers at a suburban rink in Rosemere? Not in his darkest hours did he imagine it would happen. It happened. "The way we finished last season, I wanted to come to camp in the best shape of my life." Odjick said yesterday. "I had been working out ... working hard, and then a slapshot hits me on the back of my head. I didn't think anything of it, but then I went home and started throwing up. 'What's this?' I asked myself. 'What's going on?' I was sick and then it went away. I passed my physical and the first day I went to camp, I took a little hit and it started all over again. "We were just fooling around, and it happened. Just getting ready for the season ... and it happened. I've had concussions before," he said. "Six ... seven times in the NHL, a couple in junior. Nothing bad. Nothing like this. Now ..." What happened is reflected in eyes that have lost their sparkle sunk deep in a face the colour of chalk, and in a once-booming laugh which now sounds almost like a cry for help. It is there in a step that for now, at least, no longer has a spring to it. Odjick stayed with the Canadiens for their five days of training at Vail, Colo. - all the while waiting for the demons inside his head to leave, often afraid to sleep ... afraid to wake up. He went looking for help when the team returned to Montreal for the start of the exhibition schedule. "You need rest," Canadiens chief physician David Mulder told him. "Rest," said Vincent Lacroix. "Rest," said Dr. Karen Johnston, a specialist in post-concussion syndrome. "They all told me the same thing," Odjick said. "I've had a lot of concussions and each one seemed to take longer. The first was only a couple of days, the next one a few days longer ... six weeks for one in Philadelphia. This one is taking forever. This one, it gets a little bit better and then - don't ask me why - I'm back to Square 1. I have no idea how long this is going to take. "Some days, most of the time, the headaches are steady. Some days, they just pound and pound. It's never much fun. Then I take my pills and fall asleep. Sometimes," he added, "I sleep 16 hours a day." "Do you have a headache now?" he was asked. "A little bit," he said with a tight, little grin. Odjick's on-going battle with post-concussion syndrome has afflicted a flood of NHL players with names big and small in recent seasons. Some have been forced into retirement, others - Paul Kariya and Pat LaFontaine, for example - have missed most of a season and returned to play another day.
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Post by MPLABBE on Nov 17, 2002 11:00:08 GMT -5
Just about the time Odjick, 32, was stricken, Buffalo's Maxim Afinogenov was struck in the forehead while working out in Russia the day after he and the Sabres agreed to terms on a two-year deal worth $2.4 million. He appeared to be recovering, was symptom-free for seven days, had no ill effects after working out on an exercise bike, was cleared to skate - and suffered a day-long headache after his workout. Back to Square 1.
Odjick hasn't worked out, and there's no indication he will be allowed to exercise in the foreseeable future, even though in his own mind, there are signs of slight improvement.
"It's coming back a little bit," he said, "but I just don't have the same energy. I'm sensitive to light, sensitive to noise. And I don't seem to have the same appetite. It's not bad, but it's not good ... know what I mean?
"The headaches are the worst part of it, not being able to train, not being able to play, not to be around the game ... be around the guys. I try to go for walks, try to keep busy, see my friends once in a while, do a little banking. But I can't seem to get away from the headaches.
"Do I ever feel they won't go away? I try not to say that to myself. I just have to tell myself they're going to go away."
He knows post-concussion syndrome is career-threatening and has been career-ending. He admits he's thought about it now and then, but not often.
"What's disappointing is that I had trained so hard during the summer. If I had played 54 games this season, I'd have a contract for next year. I was aiming for that. Playing is everything I've ever wanted, but I can't think about my career being over. I can't worry about that right now. I'm not at that point yet. I'm not the best person who worries about what happens. I don't have control over it," Odjick said.
Odjick admits to being upset when Canadiens management cited "personal problems" to explain his absence after his return from Vail. There are no personal problems, he insists.
"Things went back and forth about being paid," Odjick explained, "but once that got straightened out, everything's fine. What upset me with the personal problems thing is that it went across the country and guys were calling me from all over the place asking: 'What's up, Gino, what's going on?'
"The Canadiens have been good. I've got good access to the doctors. I'm being taken care of.
"I wish I could get rid of these headaches, though. When I wake up every day, it's as if I've got a hangover, but I don't. Now and then, there's a weakness in my legs. Some days are worse than others," he said.
The headaches and the diminished energy are constant, the nausea is now-and-then - but hope springs eternal.
"I never imagined this would happen ... I didn't think it would happen, but I'd like to play this year," he said. "I've got to hope I can get back this year. If you can't hope ..."
He may look like it, now and then he may sound like it, but don't even think for a minute that Odjick is feeling sorry for himself.
"I'm not," he insisted. "I don't ask myself: 'why me?' Things happen for a reason. If it doesn't kill you, it makes you better. I've gotta tell you this is the longest hangover I've ever had. Still, I don't think about this being career-ending, but if it is, it is. I've been lucky. I've been in the league for a long time ... met a lot of nice, interesting people."
He's met them playing 605 games with the Vancouver Canucks, New York Islanders, Philadelphia Flyers and the Canadiens.
"I was getting ready for my 13th season. Lucky 13," he said with a short, bitter laugh. "Yeah ... lucky 13."
© Copyright 2002 Montreal Gazette
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Post by UberCranky on Nov 17, 2002 11:56:23 GMT -5
A skeptic would ask one question. Is he insured?
If he is not insured and the Hab's are helping him financially then good for the Hab's but if he is insured and this may be a way out with money.
Sorry to be a skeptic and I know that this is serious but it could be a story. Sometimes, when money is involved things can get creative.
Can anyone confirm the money aspect of this?
I hope that Gino does fully recovers. And play for another team.
P.S. Everybody listen up. We MUST post a link to the site from where the story originated. Right on top like we have it on this story. When we write articles or Scouting Reports and others take it thier site, we DEMAND to have it linked back here and put the link on top. So, we must do the same for others.
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