St. Louis Blues GM Doug Armstrong announced today that Andy McDonald has been placed on injured reserve due to a concussion suffered during the Blues’ Oct. 13 game versus Dallas. McDonald’s head hit the glass after getting checked into the boards by the Stars’ Vern Fiddler at the end of the second period, but he did come back in the third for what would be his final shift of the evening.
This is McDonald’s second concussion in less than a year.
With the injury, McDonald joins a laundry list of NHLers currently out with a concussion or related symptoms -- the others Marc Savard, Raitis Ivanans, Ben Smith, Ben Eager, Francis Bouillon, Rick DiPietro, Marc Staal, Ian Laperriere, Kurt Sauer, Nick Petersen, Tyler Kennedy, fellow Blues teammate David Perron and the most high-profile of them all, Sidney Crosby.
(NB: Should be mentioned on TSN’s injury report, these are the only ones listed under “concussion”. Several others -- including Adam McQuaid, Jochen Hecht, Mark Olver, Peter Mueller, Michal Rozsival and Jay Beagle -- are filed under the always-curious “head” category.)
It’s also another concussion for St. Louis, a team that’s seen a lot of them recently. Concussions forced Paul Kariya to retire this past summer and took all but 10 games away from Perron last season (who is now skating and hoping to join the Blues soon). Defenseman Carlo Colaiacovo is also out with what’s being classified as an “upper body injury” but his symptoms suggest he’s suffering post-concussion issues as well.
