WORCESTER, Mass. — Spencer Abbott took a few strides closer Friday to making his return to the University of Maine lineup.
A little more than 24 hours before the Black Bears were scheduled to play Minnesota-Duluth in the NCAA Division I Men’s Hockey Northeast Regional, the senior left winger practiced with his teammates at the DCU Center.
“I feel good,” the Hockey East Player of the Year and Hobey Baker semifinalist said after the 60-minute workout.
“I’ve been progressing little by little each day,” he explained. “I took a few days off at first and since then it’s been getting better and better.”
Abbott confirmed Friday that he suffered a concussion when he took a hit to the head from Boston University’s Sean Escobedo during the third period of their March 16 Hockey East semifinal at the TD Garden in Boston.
Ever since, he has been working with UMaine head athletic trainer Paul Culina and the school’s medical staff in complying with UMaine and NCAA protocols instituted for the treatment of head injuries.
“That was my first concussion. Hopefully, it’s my last,” said Abbott, who is the nation’s leading scorer with 61 points (20 goals, 41 assists).
Friday afternoon, Abbott said he had not been given medical clearance to play in Saturday’s 7:30 p.m. regional game against the defending national champion Bulldogs.
However, he has continued making progress. Abbott first returned to the ice for about 25 minutes of skating on Tuesday and has been increasing the length and intensity of his participation over the past three days.
“The most (difficult) part is getting my legs back,” he admitted. “I was a little gassed the first couple times I went out there, but the headaches stopped and really I’ve felt pretty solid out there so far; no complaints at all.”
Abbott appeared to be able to exert himself, going end-to-end several times during Friday’s practice. He participated in all phases of the workout as part of the first line that includes Brian Flynn and Joey Diamond.
The fact Abbott has been able to gradually increase his participation during the week is a sign of continued progress.
Culina is prohibited by privacy laws from discussing a student-athlete’s condition or treatment. He did explain that a UMaine student-athlete working his or her way back from a head injury who experiences a recurrence of concussion-related symptoms during the recovery must go back to the first day of the return-to-competition regimen.
That has not been the case, according to Abbott.
At UMaine, the process takes five days. It includes balance testing, neuro-psychological testing and light exertion (not necessarily sport-specific) on the first day, increased intensity of exercise on Day 2, and sport-specific activities and participation in practice on Day 3.
On the fourth day, a student-athlete with no symptoms engages in a full-speed practice with no contact, then on Day 5 is cleared for full contact while being monitored during practice.
If all those milestones are reached without symptoms, a member of the medical staff then can give final clearance for a return to competition.
On Thursday, Abbott wore an orange jersey signifying that he was not allowed to engage in contact. During Friday’s workout, he was wearing a regular, navy-blue practice jersey, which seems to indicate he was on Day 5 of the protocol.
A UMaine physician was supposed to travel to Worcester to re-evaluate Abbott’s condition again on Friday night.
“I really hope I can go tomorrow (Saturday),” Abbott said. “I can’t say for certain. I’ve got to talk to the doctors later tonight (Friday) and then we’ll figure that out.”
The 23-year-old Abbott, who is an assistant captain, missed last Saturday’s Hockey East title game, a 4-1 loss to top-ranked Boston College.
The 5-foot-10, 175-pound native of Hamilton, Ontario, had contributed four goals and five assists in his previous seven games for the Bears. He has scored three power-play goals and two game-winning goals in 38 games.
“Obviously, having him would give us a tremendous lift,” Diamond said.
“If we have him in, he’s going to be a big factor for us. We’re hoping he’s ready to go.”
Abbott isn’t sure he can handle being on the sidelines again with his season and his college career on the line. He described watching the BC game as being “in the twilight zone.”
He is mentally prepared to play and doesn’t expect to be held back, at least from a psychological standpoint.
“If I get the green light to go, I’m going to go out there and play like I did every night before the concussion,” Abbott said. “I don’t look to shy away from anything. I look to play at 100 percent because I feel like I am.”
Abbott on Friday maintained a low-key, soft-spoken demeanor that seems uncharactericstic for a player of his ability and notoriety.
Diamond is pleased to report that means Abbott is just fine.
“That’s him in a nutshell. That’s his personality,” Diamond said. “It’s unbelieveable how he carries himself on and off the ice and how he deals with all this hype and everything. He doesn’t let anything go to his head.”
It’s a long shot to emerge from that bracket _with_ Abbott. The Bears are royally screwed without him.
There’s still a chance he could be cleared tomorrow before the game. But yeah, it’s looking like he won’t be playing. Everyone’s going to have to step up their games and have a complete team effort to win
Maybe they will clear Sam Wheeler and she can play in his place. Absolutely no reason Abbott should be cleared other than because hockey made the dance. Go ahead and test this theory
Was it Shemansky who only missed 2 games this season due to a concussion…. Obviously, there are many different levels of head injuries and every person will rebound from them differently……
“Absolutely no reason Abbott should be cleared other than because hockey made the dance.”
Since, if the Bears hadn’t made the dance, their season would be over and there would be nothing for Abbott to be cleared for, your statement is clearly true. But don’t you think that was obvious to everyone before you started typing?
Thank you, doctor.
Typical BU & Jack Parker style…hittem high and hard! Tom Caron kept calling it an upper body injury!
Jack Parker is the Sean Payton of college hockey.
Tom Caron is the Tom Caron of sports announcers.
It would be outrageous to send this young man out there so soon. Why take a chance? There is still much to be learned about head injuries. Is a hockey game worth risking anything for? He needs to take a stand on this.
the MEDICAL staff at umaine is VERY informed about head injuries and the the process of healing for them… if this staff who has ALOT of college education in the medical field says abbott is ready to go, than i’m sure he has met if not exceeded all the MEDICAL requirements to do so. saying he’s taking a chance is a pure misconception. NOTHING is left to chance in the case of head injuries, if he shouldn’t be playing on that ice he won’t be.
The tapes of the game show exactly what happened. This wasn’t just hockey as a rough and tumble game. This was a deliberate attack. Why wasn’t the BU player and the coach that encourages this kind of behavior thrown out of the game permanently. College hockey has to honor sportsmanship and fair play or the game is debased and young kids are disabled for life.
I for one believe that the Back Bears on any given night can beat any team in the country. and for the nit pickers who think you are so smart, don’t watch the game… Me myself just have faith.. because Maine is just that good.