SHARKSPAGE

Blues forward David Perron scratched from Saturday night game against Boston with headaches

An unfortunate development in the Thornton-Perron situation played out Saturday as the 22-year old St. Louis Blues left winger was held out of a game with complications from a Joe Thornton hit delivered on Thursday. According to ESPN’s Pierre LeBrun and St. Louis radio host Andy Strickland, Perron was a scratch from last night’s 2-1 win over Boston due to dizziness and headaches.

“Joe Thornton is not a dirty player. But he crossed the line. We have a player that can’t play tonight because he got a shoulder to the head that was blindsided,” Blues President John Davidson told Lebrun. After practicing Friday, Perron experienced dizziness and headaches during the morning skate on Saturday and was replaced in the lineup by forward Nick Drazenovic.

After the NHL handed down a 2-game suspension to Joe Thornton late Friday afternoon, the San Jose Sharks locker room unanimously expressed a sense of confusion as to what was and was not a legal hit. There were also a number of comments skeptical of the nature of Perron’s injury, and whether there was embellishment involved on the side of the Blues forward.

Defenseman Douglas Murray said he was doubtful after Perron laid motionless on the ice for minutes, then got up and did not miss a power play shift less than 1 minute later in the game. Perron scored a second period insurance goal nearly 9 minutes into the period. Joe Thornton said he thought Perron was dead the way he laid motionless on the ice. “This guy just ran into me 100mph. I am stationary, and he is dead,” Thornton said. “It’s kind of like in soccer, when a guy goes down like he is shot. He is out on the power play 57 seconds later. It is just baffling.” Defenseman Dan Boyle said that Perron violated the player code. “If you’re hurt, you’re hurt. Stay down.”

The concern does not just involve how quickly Perron recovered or did not recovered after the hit on Thursday night, Perron himself raised questions in a post-game interview with Jim Hayes on Fox Sports Midwest. “I didn’t know if I would be all right or not (after the hit), I feel fine right now,” Perron told Hayes after the game. When asked if there were any lingering effects by Hayes, Perron replied “No, no, I am fine right now, hopefully it stays that way.” In an interview with AOL Fanhouse’s Susan Slusser, Sharks center Scott Nichol said that Perron admitted to trying to draw a 5-minute penalty on the play. The post-game interview above is currently not available on the video section of stlblues.com.

Perron’s ability to take an enormous hit, not miss a shift ,and score a goal less than 10 minutes later is more than possible. To feel fine after the game, fine on practice Friday, then suffer headaches and dizziness two days later when numerous comments about embellisment are made is also possible, but it does raise questions.

“The situation places a large foot directly in the mouth of some national commentators, who criticized Perron for embellishing the play, insinuating his ability to return to the game and score a goal as corroborating evidence,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter Dan O’Neill wrote today. O’Neill also quoted Blues president John Davidson, who criticized those who questioned Perron for embellishment. Davidson pointed to the case of Marc Savard, where it took several days for the effects of a concussion to present themselves.

Distinctly possible, although twice when I suffered sports-related head injuries the effects were far more severe and immediate. Once I partially woke up in an ambulance, before eventually waking up in the hospital. The second time after an elbow to the head I suffered two black eyes, a broken nose, and vomited off and on for nearly 10-15 minutes. Head injuries are serious business, and they affect each person differently. It is not being disrespectful or dishonest to speculate about the severity of Perron’s trauma. On the surface it did not appear to be as serious as it could have been, a sentiment expressed by David Perron himself the night of the hit.

Player saftey is a paramount concern for the league, and it should be subject to renewed focused at the GM meetings this Tuesday, but the Sharks do have valid concerns about the way this incident unfolded and continues to unfold.

Foot in mouth notwithstanding.