Burns' agent upset with Wild

Brent Burns' agent is very upset with Wild organization for allowing Brent to continue playing for 6 weeks with a concussion that team doctors misdiagnosed as sinusitis. While some may say Burns' should have spoken up about the vision problems and other symptoms, he is a pro athlete who wants to play and as far as he knew had a sinus condition.

If things get ugly between the two, could Burns' be in play?

If he ever would be in play in which case I would be surprised... Murray better make a phone call.

where the hell did these doctors get their degrees? sheesh, I know I am not a doctor and don't understand symptons of course, but wow, if something happened and he been hit again to cause another one, Burns could have been seriously in trouble.

Burns for Lee and Columbus' 2nd round pick.

There are some apparently conflicting reports here. Which one is correct?
:KJK:

From Minneapolis Pioneer Press:

Prognosis for Minnesota Wild's Brent Burns is good

By John Shipley jshipley@pioneerpress.com
Updated: 04/07/2009 12:01:45 AM CDT

Brent Burns will miss his 18th consecutive game because of a concussion tonight and isn't close to being healthy. But the Wild aren't concerned the concussion will derail his promising career.

"If Brent Burns had this in September, I don't know how I would look at it," general manager Doug Risebrough said. "The fact is, he's been out since the middle of March and is not near (returning in) the foreseeable future. Does that mean I'm concerned about him not being able to start next season? No."

Earlier in his career, Krys Kolanos missed six months because of post-concussion syndrome, which ended the career of former Twins third baseman Corey Koskie.

Craig Weller missed 13 games because of a concussion between January and February, and Pierre-Marc Bouchard will miss his fifth straight game tonight because of a concussion. Defenseman Nick Schultz likely will miss tonight's game because of what the team is calling an eye/head injury.

"If you're going to play hockey, you're going to have a concussion in your career," Risebrough said. "You want to make sure it's dealt with properly."

Burns played several games with his injury before shutting it down on March 8. He hasn't played or practiced since, watching games from the press box.

"It's taking a while, which probably means it's a severe one," Risebrough said. "Give him credit: He played through some of it, probably partly in an attempt to tell himself it was something else."

---
Agent: Playing Burns was health risk

Ron Salcer says it took him "three minutes" to figure out Brent Burns had a concussion -- something the Wild failed to diagnose in six weeks.

By MICHAEL RUSSO, Star Tribune

Last update: April 17, 2009 - 11:11 PM

Ron Salcer, best known in these parts as the agent for free agent Marian Gaborik, accused the Wild of negligence Friday, saying it allowed one of his other clients, defenseman Brent Burns, to play six weeks with a concussion.

Acting Wild General Manager Tom Lynn disputed the substance of Salcer's claims.
Burns, 24, was injured in practice Jan. 26 but wasn't shut down until March 7. He is still affected with severe postconcussion syndrome.

"I met with Brent in L.A. [March 6]," Salcer said. "We're having lunch with him and [fellow client Derek Boogaard] and he's telling me about when he hit his head six weeks earlier. So I'm listening to him, and I'm incredulous listening to him.

"He's telling me how, 'Ronny, I'm an avid reader and I'm not able to read on the bus anymore. I get headaches that go all around my head. I can't sleep. During the game, I'm not focusing. I feel like everything is happening, but I'm reacting slow. I go, 'Brent, are you kidding me? You've got a concussion. You cannot play. You cannot play anymore!'

"He's so loyal to the team, he was afraid. He said, 'I don't want to tell them that. I don't want to burn a bridge.' I said, 'Burn a bridge? They just exploded one on you. You cannot play.'"

Burns was shut down the next day.

"They said he had sinusitis. I mean, come on," Salcer said. "I'm not a doctor, but I've been around the game for over 30 years. It took me three minutes to know that he had a concussion. How they cannot know for six weeks is amazing."

In fact, Salcer put Burns in touch with former North Stars defenseman Jim Johnson, who long suffered from postconcussion syndrome, to convince Burns about what he had.

"Brent said, 'I've got that. I've got that. Yeah, I've got that,'" Salcer said.

---

And if Salcer is Burns' agent, and he says it took him "three minutes" to figure out Burns had a concussion, where was Salcer for the previous six weeks?

Is it fair to ask if perhaps Salcer is covering up his own negligence in the matter?

IMHO way too much conjecture here to come to any conclusion based on the information provided.

That is one diddled up situation.

504Heater wrote:That is one diddled up situation.

When you consider that Salcer is also Gaborik's agent, looks like he didn't do Gaborik any favours either...

To be fair though DTR, most players don't meet with their agents during the year unless there are contract negotiations happening. There's simply no need for it...in most cases, it's just a "Hey, how's it going?"-sort of thing...if even.

But this is quite interesting. Sinusitis or moderate concussion...apparently, hard to tell the difference between the two.

Actually, a few years ago, I remember I acquired (what I didn't know at the time) was Bell's palsy in the left facial nerve. I went to one of those walk-in clinics in Orleans because it was a Sunday and my doctor wasn't in, and I figured it was just a whatever kind of thing.

I remember the doctor looked at me for about all of two minutes, told me it was a bacterial infection, prescribed penicillin to me and told me to be on my way...however, I wasn't convinced. I knew better than to assume it was just an infection. So I went to the hospital and saw a proper doctor, and he almost lost it on the doctor who had diagnosed me with a normal infection (I believe he said it was an ear infection).

So they put me on anabolic steroids, small dosages hoping to revive the nerve bundles affected by the palsy...the moral of the story is, always get a second opinion. If I didn't end up going to see another doctor, I could have had permanent palsy in the left facial nerve and I'd be looking like Jean Chretien right now.

How these professional athletes don't do the same thing, especially when their livelihood is in direct relation to their physical and mental health, is just baffling.

davetherave wrote:

504Heater wrote:That is one diddled up situation.

When you consider that Salcer is also Gaborik's agent, looks like he didn't do Gaborik any favours either...

I guess not every agent is like a Jerry McGuire, and unfortunately, not everyone has as good agents as Ovie does, who better to take care of you than your parents?

504Heater wrote:Burns for Lee and Columbus' 2nd round pick.

They may bite if we add Fisher

PKC wrote:To be fair though DTR, most players don't meet with their agents during the year unless there are contract negotiations happening. There's simply no need for it...in most cases, it's just a "Hey, how's it going?"-sort of thing...if even.

But this is quite interesting. Sinusitis or moderate concussion...apparently, hard to tell the difference between the two.

Actually, a few years ago, I remember I acquired (what I didn't know at the time) was Bell's palsy in the left facial nerve. I went to one of those walk-in clinics in Orleans because it was a Sunday and my doctor wasn't in, and I figured it was just a whatever kind of thing.

I remember the doctor looked at me for about all of two minutes, told me it was a bacterial infection, prescribed penicillin to me and told me to be on my way...however, I wasn't convinced. I knew better than to assume it was just an infection. So I went to the hospital and saw a proper doctor, and he almost lost it on the doctor who had diagnosed me with a normal infection (I believe he said it was an ear infection).

So they put me on anabolic steroids, small dosages hoping to revive the nerve bundles affected by the palsy...the moral of the story is, always get a second opinion. If I didn't end up going to see another doctor, I could have had permanent palsy in the left facial nerve and I'd be looking like Jean Chretien right now.

How these professional athletes don't do the same thing, especially when their livelihood is in direct relation to their physical and mental health, is just baffling.

Agreed.

One has wonder, however, if an agent's livelihood depends on the health of his client(s)...and especially considering that hockey is nothing if not a violent sport, and that the incidence of concussions has been rising steadily...that Salcer can, from what is being reported, recuse himself from a more timely monitoring of Burns' well-being.

These young men want to play hockey, and they play hurt. IMHO agents should be there to make sure they don't inadvertently do long term damage to themselves.

Burns sure would look nice in a Sens Uni along side Souray in that Edmonton deal?

Cap'n Clutch wrote:Burns sure would look nice in a Sens Uni along side Souray in that Edmonton deal?

504Heater wrote:

Cap'n Clutch wrote:Burns sure would look nice in a Sens Uni along side Souray in that Edmonton deal?

I think trading for both Burns and Souray would deplete our team too much. Even if the rumours are true and they both want out, they will still fetch quite a lot. I think just getting Burns, and then signing his teammate, local boy Kurtis Foster would go a long way in improving out team D needs.

I'm thinking of a trade like:

To Ottawa:
Benoit Pouliot (another local boy, a player they aren't happy with, but his style of play doesn't mesh with the Wild's style of play)
Brent Burns
Rights to Kurtis Foster (trading his rights away as opposed to waiting for free agency, would alleviate the sense of loyalty that Foster has to the Wild)

To Minnesota:
Chris Kelly (their type of two-way forward)
Brian Lee (good young local boy, the announcers sure seemed to love him)
Jason Smith (Battling defensive D-man, veteran to anchor their defence.)
Jim O'Brien (sad to see him go, but another local boy for them might make this deal all the more attractive)

It may seem like was are giving up a lot, but I believe Brent Burns would be worth it. And after that we'd have a defensive team made up of:

Burns - Kuba
Foster - Phillips
Campoli - Volchie
Picard

That's a solid D 1 through 6 that's for sure. I don't see an allstar Minute Muncher in there but you don't need one with a solid D core.