Bourque, Neely, Chara, Bergeron, Pastrnak, Marchand. These are some of the best Boston Bruins players of all time, and Don Del Negro has worked with all of them. For 29 years, Del Negro was the athletic trainer for the Boston Bruins, and on January 16, he was the guest speaker for the Psychology of Performance. Northwood’s athletic trainer, Andy Donatello, also visited the class.

The two Donnies attended the same graduate school, Indiana State. Mr. Del Negro also was the head of athletic training at Williams College while Mr. Spear was a student-athlete. My father, Luke, was also a student-athlete at Williams during that time. Mr. Del Negro has had a long-lasting connection with Northwood.

The Donnies visited class at a perfect time: the concussion unit. Mr. Del Negro talked about the status of concussion protocol in the NHL and how “it’s like a swinging pendulum.” In his first couple of years at the Bruins, concussions weren’t taken as seriously as they are today.

“Concussions were based on if you were knocked unconscious or not, and the severity of the concussion was based on how long you were out for,” he said about his early days as an athletic trainer.

“There’s still a grey area with concussions. Before, you could only have one if you were knocked unconscious, and now you have one if you bump your head and there’s no in-between,” he said.

The NHL changed how it handled concussions when the players’ union felt that the players’ health and condition were being taken advantage of for monetary gains.

“It’s bad for money when a star player is out injured; not as many people will watch the games.”

The NHL has administered stricter rules about concussions to help players with their long-term health. “There’s a direct correlation with former athletes who are middle-aged and have depression, too if they were 19 and had an undiagnosed concussion,” he said.

The NFL has also taken this stance. Mr. Del Negro said that Soccer is a little bit behind, and he proposed a rule change restricting headers in the middle of the pitch, which soccer players in the room didn’t support.

Most sports have implemented the ImPACT test, a cognitive function baseline assessment athletes take at the beginning of their season. When an athlete sustains a potential concussion, they re-take the test to see if their cognitive function matches from before. This is just one of the ways that the game is evolving to protect player health and safety.

Don Del Negro and Andy Donatello have been in the game for a while, and they are glad to see it changing to benefit the players.