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Bryce Salvador set to return to Devils after missing last season with a concussion

Philadelphia Flyers v New Jersey Devils

NEWARK, NJ - SEPTEMBER 28: Scott Hartnell #19 of the Philadelphia Flyers collides with Bryce Salvador #24 of the New Jersey Devils at the Prudential Center on September 28, 2010 in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

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Not all concussion-related news in the NHL is bad news these days. While the struggles of Sidney Crosby and David Perron are disconcerting, the comebacks of guys like Nathan Horton and Peter Mueller are great news to read. You can add another name to the positive list in New Jersey Devils defenseman Bryce Salvador.

Salvador has been battling a cochlear (inner ear) concussion for nearly a year after suffering the injury during preseason last year. After a pair of separate incidents, the Devils season filled with injuries was well underway last September starting with Salvador’s concussion woes. With Salvador out, the Devils had to rely on a host of different young blue liners to help fill out ranks as the team struggled all season long.

Now, Salvador is feeling healthy and ready to roll in training camp with New Jersey as he tells Fire & Ice’s Tom Gulitti. Salvador is waiting for the final approval to resume full workouts from doctors but is eager and ready to roll just the same. After being out that long, is he worried about suffering another concussion? Well...

“There’s really no concern about my long-term health, actually,” he said. “The doctors have already put me through a lot of those tests, so I’m pretty excited about that. If I get hurt, I get hurt. That’s just the game. I’m in a good situation where I don’t have to be concerned about a lot of things.”

There is a difference also because of the type of concussion Salvador had.

“Everyone goes through a different situation, so you can’t really compare everyone,” he said. “Mine more stems from the inner ear, so it wasn’t really a blow where I was taken off on a stretcher. I don’t want to generalize, but I know that it could just be two completely different types of concussions. There are various concussions, so maybe if I was in a situation where I’d taken a devastating blow to the head where I was knocked unconscious maybe I’d be a little bit more concerned.”


This is great news to see Salvador so beaming with excitement but also not stressing himself out with how things will go once he’s back to action and being so calm about the injury as well. Going back out there without fear is something you wonder about given how seemingly simple it can be for a previous concussion suffer can be re-injured. In Salvador’s case, since his was more of an inner ear issue than anything else, he may not have to stress so much or live in fear of getting his career potentially ended on a fluke play.

As it is, Salvador’s problems have come courtesy of a puck and punches to the head as well as straight body contact. Any of those things can occur in a game at a given moment. Salvador being brave enough to go back out there without worry makes him a lot tougher than we would be.

A healthy Salvador also helps make the Devils defense tougher to deal with. With Colin White out of town now, he’d jump back in the lineup with Anton Volchenkov as their only other top defensive blue liner. Guys like Henrik Tallinder and Andy Greene are better puck movers or offensive options while other guys like Mark Fraser, Mark Fayne, and Matt Taormina are still as yet untested. Whether or not 2011 first rounder Adam Larsson can crack the lineup or not also remains to be seen.

The Devils priding themselves on being strong defensively is the thing of legend by now, but a healthy Bryce Salvador will help them to better live up to their reputation. Here’s to hoping his concussion problems are a thing of the past.