It’s been a long time coming. Approximately 20-plus months, in fact, since Dallas Stars defenseman Stephen Johns played in a meaningful hockey game.
That’s when he left the ice to deal with post-concussion headaches. There would be days where he was in perfect health, and other days where he couldn’t be on the ice. It is a result of a concussion sustained at the end of the 2018 season. Without any specific timetable of when the post-traumatic headaches would subside, Johns had to use the one thing most athletes don’t typically like: rest.