Many who follow the NHL have wondered during the current season where it disappeared to Joonas Donskoi, 30. The Finnish winger, who scored seventeen goals in the second season in Colorado and was later taken over by the expansion team Seattle, has not made a dent in the NHL ice this season.
During the training season, Tai played for a good four sets until he collided with his own player and hit his head on the ice.
The end result was sadly familiar to Donskoi: a concussion.
Reached by Urheilu from his home in Seattle, Donskoi opened up about his concussion cycle, which is almost unheard of in these latitudes. The training season concussion was Donskoi’s seventh in his career – six of these are from the NHL and one from Kärpi. In the NHL, Donskoi’s six concussions practically fit into three seasons.
The pace has been amazing and the last one really knocked the player down.
– After all, this has been the hardest season of my career. I still have a history of these head injuries, so it’s been pretty tough mentally here, since I haven’t been able to get to the rink. The symptoms have been there for a long time and they have been worked on here one day at a time, says Donskoi.
The most recent hit has caused the player mostly dizziness and headache, but previous hits have caused more.
– After this latest one, there were also problems with the eyes at first, but we got them right with exercises. Earlier, I lost the organ of balance in my ear. It was quite a job with it. All the swaying made me feel sick and, for example, in the summer on a boat I had to throw up. The symptoms were really bad, Donskoi recalls.
– We did a lot of gymnastics for the balance organ to get it used to swinging again.
In recent years, the hockey world has heard many stories about the challenges caused by repeated concussions outside the rink. After these deaths, so-called CTE, chronic brain injury, has been found in the brains of some former NHL fighters.
Donskoi doesn’t even try to pretend he’s not worried.
– Of course I’m worried. I’ve tried a lot to talk to different people and call, for example, former players whose careers have ended with concussions. I have wanted to chat and ask how they are doing. I have also been in a lot of discussions with different doctors and experts. These are difficult things.
The close circle has kept Donskoi’s head afloat during difficult times.
– I have a wife and a one-and-a-half-year-old son at home, so I can’t just sink into depression here. I’ve been thinking that now I’ve been able to be at home and play with my son, that’s positive. At the end of the day, work is just hockey and I have a family here to take care of. That’s always the most important thing.
Although in Seattle, which is located in the northwestern part of the United States, it may sometimes rain for a couple of weeks straight, in Donskoi’s own situation, the rain clouds have begun to recede and the sun’s rays penetrate through the cloud cover. There is still no return schedule for the player, but the direction is right.
– Feeling has started to improve and the last few weeks have been good. I haven’t been on the ice, but I’ve been training normally in the gym. There is starting to be light at the end of the tunnel here, although I can’t say any timetable yet. You have to proceed calmly, because time has been the most important value in recovery. Hopefully we’ll be able to get on the ice soon, the fire is starting to get tough, Donskoi laughs.
Tackling is part of the game
How Donskoi got into a concussion spiral is a common story in the NHL world. Sometimes it’s bad luck, other times the opponent lacks respect. And Donskoi doesn’t run away from his own responsibility either, but states that he sometimes rolled in the rink with his head down and paid a heavy price for it.
– There is also some outrageous Taklaus among them.
The tackling debate has taken place around hockey at regular intervals. Sometimes it is the responsibility of the tackler, sometimes the tackled one. The only thing that is certain is that tackles are still going on in the NHL, and often hard.
– Tackling is part of the game. You have to be ready, because there are still guys here who pull hard. If you are a guy in a physical role on the team, you stay in the lineup by completing Tackles. However, sometimes there are hits even in clean tackles. All in all, we never get hurt, Donskoi reminds.
– It still has to be said that when you come from behind the tree straight into the head, you should be given insanely long suspensions.
There has been a lot of talk about young people’s ability to take on tackles.
– The game teaches, Donskoi throws a smile in his voice.
– If you are a puck player, you will be tackled. Maybe if young people come here straight from universities or schools, they might not expect it. If I think about myself as an 18-year-old, it seems pretty crazy how young people are entering the NHL these days.
“All-in for this season”
The fall’s concussion came at a difficult time for Donskoi’s career as well. The opening season in Seattle was difficult and now the final season of the four-year contract is at hand.
– The last season of the contract and I went all-in for this season in the summer. I hired my own chef for the summer and everything felt good. I did everything I could to prevent last season from happening again. When this happened, it was a pretty tough place mentally to go through, Donskoi will return in the fall, but immediately look ahead.
– This is how this sport is, ups and downs. It’s absolutely pointless to be upset about such things. I myself even experience such moments as nice challenges to see if I can still get back to my own level.
With a positive attitude, Donskoi, who represented San Jose in his career in addition to Seattle and Colorado, has also worked with the team.
– I am at the hall every day and I have such a strong passion for the sport that I want to help in any way I can. Sometimes it can be a tip for a young player, sometimes I just maintain the good atmosphere created by the victories anyway. That’s why I’ve made sure that I don’t go there to screw things up, Donskoi concludes.
Donskoi told about the situation Raahen Seutu first (you will switch to another service).
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