NHL Breaking News: Milan Michalek Latest Star to Be Sidelined with Concussion

Today the hockey world was shaken up again when news broke that Jeff Skinner and Joni Pitkanen of the Carolina Hurricanes were going to be sidelined due to concussions. However, lightning has struck again and Milan Michalek of the Ottawa Senators becomes the latest superstar to be sidelined with a concussion.

The event in question occurred when the Ottawa Senators squared off against the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday. Michalek had made accidental contact with his teammate Erik Karlsson and left the game.

USA Today once again reported that Michalek had indeed suffered a concussion

"One day after points leader Claude Giroux of the Philadelphia Flyers was proclaimed out indefinitely, Ottawa Senators coach Paul MacLean told reporters Wednesday that Milan Michalek has a concussion

Michalek had scored his league-best 19th goal in the 3-2 overtime win against the Buffalo Sabres but was involved in a collision with Senators defenseman Erik Karlsson and left the game.

MacLean said that Michalek was day-to-day. He'll have to follow the concussion protocol and be symptom-free in each stage of his recovery.

"It seems like he felt way better today, so we'll where it goes," MacLean said.

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Most of these concussions have resulted from accidental contact between teammates, but the league really needs to do something. Possible options include lightening up the current bulky equipment, reinforcing padding and strength of helmets or doing a full study on player safety in general.

There is no clear-cut answer or solution to this problem, but this has been one of the most injury-ridden seasons in recent memory.

Each concussion has been very unfortunate due to the importance of each player to their respective team. This story is in its earliest stages, so check back to the NHL page at Bleacher Report for the latest updates and alerts.

Hopefully, this trend subsides soon because the league needs all of its players healthy.

Tom Urtz is an NHL Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report.