Gary Vasquez – US PRESSWIRE
Los Angeles Kings center Jarret Stoll had a seizure this morning and was taken to Little Company of Mary Hospital. General Manager Dean Lombardi met him later at the hospital. Lombardi to the L.A. Times that “everything is okay. They’ve run some tests and they still had another.”
As the suffering of a vicious hit by known deviant and head hunter Raffi Torres continues well past the end of the playoffs, 31-year-old Stoll’s well-being might be turning more sinister than previously believed. Torres was grabbed by the San Jose Sharks after doing something very similar to Marian Hossa of the Chicago Blackhawks at the time in last year’s playoffs.
Stoll could just be watching too many bright flashing cartoons with his family in the morning, but the smart money is on the concussion he suffered factoring in more than any other. It has been hot in Southern California the past couple days, so heat combining with exhaustion causing dehydration is another possible angle, however we will just have to wait and see.
Not at all in the twighlight of his career, Stoll has been a consistent center, a valuable faceoff-man and even developed a little nasty streak in the last two years. He is receiving tremendous credit as an unsung hero and work-horse for the team.
Goons like Torres and to a slightly lesser extent, Todd Bertuzzi of his famous “Sucker Punch” incident, are big mean guy who grew up admiring Scott Stevens when he would scramble some eggs upstairs when battling in the corners. They provide no other source of spark for the club and even when they have a good game, they can only help their team in limited ways offensively. They are rarely forced to fight to protect themselves for the past three seasons.
They’re overpaid, and as the league goes more against fighting as a solution and more towards enforcing safety standards, they are finding less and less value for their services, even if they are improving other aspects of their game slightly.
