Kings’ Colin Fraser discusses concussion protocol

Kings center Colin Fraser has been a fortunate man -- 342 regular-season games played and two Stanley Cups on his resume, one with the Chicago Blackhawks, the other with the Kings in 2012.

And no concussions or concussion-like symptoms for the hard-working forward.

Until Wednesday in Toronto.

Fraser was hurt after taking a big but legal hit from the Maple Leafs’ Frazer McLaren. He had to be assisted off the ice, missed the next two games but, remarkably, was practicing on Monday with his teammates in El Segundo.

“It was nice,” Fraser said. “It hasn’t been that many days, but it’s long enough. I was feeling pretty good and obviously I didn’t look good on the ice. For whatever reason, even that night and the next day I felt no symptoms really, but the protocol and the safety, which is a good thing, just takes a little longer.”

He skated by himself on Sunday morning in Chicago and was cleared to practice after taking the required neuro-psych tests once the team returned home. He said the two-part test took a little less than an hour on Monday, offering details of the examination.

“They give you 15 words or whatever and then you repeat back as many as you remember, like three times,” Fraser said. “Shapes, memory and you’ve got to draw them. That was the written stuff. Then there’s a computer test, which is the same concepts but now it’s on the computer. ... They do it (as a base line) and every couple of years you’ve got to update it and they compare the results to see how you’re doing.

“I’ve never had a concussion ... some guys are unlucky and some guys are lucky. There’s no rhyme or reason to it.”

Fraser said he remembered the entire incident.

“It’s scary at the time,” he said. “It didn’t look too good when I was getting off the ice even when I watched the replay. ... Even going to bed that night, I felt pretty good, which is weird. Because you look at Greener [Matt Greene] missed 18 games. It’s weird how it goes. I hit my head straight on the boards versus taking it on the chin.”

Defenseman Willie Mitchell, who missed Sunday’s game at Chicago, did not practice on Monday. Mitchell missed all of last season because of an injured knee and had a concussion and lingering symptoms in his days with the Vancouver Canucks. That is not the case with this current injury, which the team is calling an upper-body injury.

“He worked out today. He didn’t skate. So we’ll see how he is tomorrow,” Kings Coach Darryl Sutter said. “He got hit. It was nothing. It was like an upper-body [injury]. It wasn’t that serious and then he was sick all day.”

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