Gretzky: Players in my era 'didn't know what a concussion was'

Concussion awareness is not what it once was, which is a great step in the right direction.

Wayne Gretzky has spoken about concussions and how they were perceived during his playing days - or rather, the lack thereof - to the Toronto Sun's Mike Zeisberger.

"We probably didn’t know what a concussion was back in those days,” Gretzky said. "It was more a case of 'Take two aspirins and come back in the morning.'

"If you had a headache, maybe you practised, maybe you didn’t practise."

Gretzky was relatively healthy during his playing days, but a lawsuit is currently ongoing in which former players are suing the NHL for failing to notify them of the dangers of concussions.

Luckily, the days of concussion ignorance are in the past, and now are the days of concussion protocols and more scientific knowledge on the subject, which Gretzky recognizes.

"When we got hit in the 1970s and 80s, we didn’t really know what a concussion was. You’d just think you got your bell rung," Gretzky said. "So now, we’ve advanced so far with the technology, the trainers, the doctors, it’s a different game now. It’s a different era. These guys are bigger, they’re faster, they’re better athletes than we were. It’s not that we weren’t good athletes. But that’s progression.”

Gretzky understands why there's such a spotlight shone on concussions nowadays, and believes it's because of the way athletes are built.

"These guys are so big and so fast and so strong, if you are not in the right position, you are going to get hurt. Either a concussion or hurting your knee or hurting your shoulder.

"These guys are great players now. Simple as that."