Before the tragic news of the passing of Derek Boogaard and Rick Rypien, the concussion debate in professional sports leagues was running rampant.

Marc Savard, Sidney Crosby and Justin Morneau are just a few names on a long list of players in Canadian sports to have suffered extreme head trauma.

Morneau was out for a full year after a collision during a head first slide into second base with John MacDonald of the Blue Jays. He was immediately taken off the field and placed on the disabled list. This incident occurred on Jul. 7, 2010, and Morneau did not return until March pre-season the following year.

Savard and Crosby were victims to blindside hits that have served as staples in new videos to NHL teams deeming unacceptable contact with the head. Savard’s career has taken a nosedive since the injury, but he was fortunate enough to win a Stanley Cup last year with the Bruins.

Although no such announcement has been made, it is inevitable that he will be forced into retirement as he will not be cleared to practice, let alone play.

Crosby’s story is a little more high profile. When the best player in the league is having an outstanding season and gets taken out by an average player in a game produced only for the fans, there’s a problem. Like Morneau, there will be a long road ahead for Crosby.

How does this connect to Rypien and Boogaard’s untimely deaths? Concussions. Both Boogaard and Rypien were NHL tough guys: fighters, enforcers and major contributors to team morale.

Boogaard suffered so many concussions that he wore sunglasses constantly because of his sensitivity to light. A severe sensitivity to light would explain how he got a hold of Oxycodone – mixed with alcohol, this was the cause of his death.

Rypien, on the other hand, was buried under a world of depression. Coupled with a concussion, this was a lethal combination.

The MMA world has to be warned as well. Skating or running at high speeds and coming to a dead stop with an elbow, tackle or collision is just as hard to take as a knockout punch.

Sam Vasquez died weeks after a fight in November 2007. After taking punch after punch from Vince Libardi on Oct. 20, 2007, Vasquez was knocked out. Vasquez suffered a seizure in the ring and the fight was called off in the third round.

In November of the same year, he was still in hospital where he underwent surgery to relieve pressure on his brain, and was put in a medically induced coma after undergoing surgery to relieve pressure in his brain. Later that month, he was pronounced dead.

The effect of a knockout to an already damaged brain is fatal.

It is becoming more evident that the faster the professional sport gets, the more dangerous it becomes. The games and equipment are evolving, but the rules are staying the same.

The maze of concussions is one that keeps growing and becoming harder to navigate as the seasons unfold. Concussions are undoubtedly a scary reality for athletes, and their futures after a concussion are uncertain.