from Jonas Siegel of TSN,

Every morning for the final month of 2014, Leo Komarov woke up and hoped he simply didn't have a headache.

That was life with a concussion for the Maple Leafs' 27-year-old winger. He called it a "weird feeling", this existence of being not quite awful, but never quite right, either. There were the small headaches that became sporadic throughout the day. There was the newfound sensitivity to lights and movement. It was strange, though not completely unfamiliar.

"It wasn't fun," said Komarov on the first day of 2015, feeling better in recent weeks. "I could do everything I'm used to doing, it's just something wasn't right."

This was not the first concussion for Komarov. He had two "small ones" in the past, he says. One time, he was even knocked out on the ice, but well enough, apparently, to play the next day.

The Leafs took no such chances, though. Operating under a new climate of increased sensitivity to head injuries in hockey (and pro sports), they held Komarov out for 14 games. He was allowed to skate four days after he was first clipped by Alex Ovechkin, didn't feel quite right after and was kept on relative rest for the next couple weeks.

continued