Concussion and National Hockey League Player Performance: An Advanced Hockey Metrics Analysis

Abstract

Context Postconcussion deficits in neurocognitive performance and postural control may persist at the time of return to sport participation. How these deficits, if present, affect athletic performance is largely unknown, with prior studies showing mixed results. Objective To evaluate postconcussion National Hockey League player performance using advanced hockey metrics over short- (5 games), medium- (10 games), and long-term (remainder of the season) seasonal performance. Design Retrospective cohort study. Patients or Other Participants National Hockey League players who sustained a sport-related concussion (SRC; n = 93) and returned during the same season and players (n = 51) who missed time for non–injury-related reasons. Main Outcome Measure(s) Six performance metrics were used: (1) points per 60 minutes, (2) Corsi percentage, (3) personal Fenwick shooting percentage, (4) scoring chances per 60 minutes, (5) penalty difference, and (6) PDO (not an acronym but sometimes referred to as SVSP% [save percentage shooting percentage]). Performance was compared using 2 (group) × 2 (time) repeated-measures analyses of variance for 3 time windows: (1) ±5 games, (2) ±10 games, and (3) the remainder of the season postconcussion. Alpha values were set at a conservative .01 to account for the lack of independence among dependent variables. Results No significant interactions were present for any of the 6 dependent variables at any of the 3 time windows. Overall, none of the secondary variables differed. Conclusions Using advanced, sport-specific metrics, we found that National Hockey League players did not display worse seasonal performance during 3 postinjury time frames after they sustained an SRC. Whereas laboratory studies have identified lingering neurologic deficits after concussion, our results suggest that these deficits, if present, either do not translate to worse athletic performance or were not captured by these 44 metrics. Further, prospective efforts are needed to accurately quantify performance after SRC among professional hockey players.