CRANBERRY TOWNSHIP, Pa. -- Olli Maatta got hit so hard, he wasn't able to remember where he was.
For Bryan Rust it was a pounding headache.
For Matt Hunwick it was having to leave a restaurant because the combination of noise and lights was just too much for his senses to handle.
"It kind of sucks when you want to go out and eat dinner with your family and you can't even do it," Hunwick was telling me Saturday. "It makes you think."
And those above are just some of the effects a concussion can have. That's the thing with brain injuries: Each is different and almost no two experiences are alike.
"It's not like you have a broken leg or a broken arm or something obvious where you know when it's fixed, it's fixed," said Maatta.
Such occupational hazards come with the job description of a professional hockey player and Maatta, Rust and Hunwick wouldn't have it any other way. All are well aware of the effects -- both long-term and short -- they can have, but this is their livelihood, a lucrative one, that rewards toughness to a point. Teeth can be replaced and wounds can be stitched up, but they only have one brain and it has to last them the next 60 years or so after hanging up the skates.
In an era of increased awareness about brain injuries, particularly over the last five years, Hunwick said a concussion is the one injury a player should never rush back from.
"With most injuries? Yes. With concussions, I hope guys are smart enough to know to take the time they need," said Hunwick, who missed 15 games this fall with what he says was the fourth concussion of his 11-year career. "I think from a team standpoint, we understand when someone needs the full amount of time as to when they get back. I think there's lot of injuries where guys come back early and play through pain. When it comes to your brain, it's a little bit different."
Matt Murray is just the latest Penguin to return from a concussion. He's been out since Feb. 26, after taking a Maatta slap shot to the head in practice. He has missed the last nine games and hopes to play Tuesday night when the Penguins travel to Brooklyn to take on the Islanders.
What separates Murray from the rest is that, as a goalie, it's literally his job to put his body, including his head, in harm's way on every shot, usually 20-40 times per game.
For those who argue goaltenders have got it easy nowadays with all their oversized padding and gear, Murray says guess again. Skaters have never been bigger, faster or stronger and, now equipped with composite sticks, can propel a frozen rubber disc at even greater velocities. It's still hazardous to one's health, Murray says.
"These guys shoot the puck pretty darn hard, especially in practice," the 23-year-old said. "Every shot is right from Grade-A, right in the slot.
"Wear whatever you want on your head, you can wrap your head in bubble wrap, sometimes things are out of your control. Sometimes stuff happens."
As he has done the past few days, Murray took live shots in practice, albeit in a skills session, on Saturday at the Lemieux Sports Complex:
Afterward he pronounced himself good to go and eager to get back between the pipes. But the real test won't come until he takes another hard shot to the head. If that comes against the Islanders, well, Murray says he's OK with that.
"That's what makes it exciting, honestly, makes it a little bit fun too," Murray said. "That danger that we go through night in and night out, it's definitely something that's a part of our game. You don't try to avoid it. You don't try to fix it or anything like that. You just play your game and take it as it comes."
This is Murray's second known concussion after taking a Brayden Schenn knee to the head in the 2015-16 regular-season finale, forcing him to miss the first two games of the first round of the playoffs. He told me there was nothing about that concussion that could have prepared him for this one:
Obviously, the Penguins will need Murray to be at the top of his game if they are to have a shot at winning their third straight Stanley Cup. While Tristan Jarry and Casey DeSmith have done well in fits and spurts, the Penguins are only going to be as good as their starting goalie.
After a rough start to the season, which included taking nearly a month off to grieve the death of his father, Murray had been playing his best hockey of the season at the time of his injury. He is 23-13-2 on the season with a .909 save percentage but had won eight of his last nine starts.
"He knows how to win and make those game-changing saves," Rust said. "That's something you need this time of year and moving forward."
This concussion is just the latest in a string of injuries that Murray has sustained in his brief three-year career. Last year he had wrist and hamstring injuries. Earlier this season he missed six games with a knee injury. Murray scoffs at the notion that he is somehow injury-prone.
"A lot of that's out of my control," Murray said. "I just prepare myself every day off the ice and on the ice to be able to take whatever comes your way. I'm only human. Sometimes, like I said, stuff happens out there."
• Following practice, Mike Sullivan confirmed Carter Rowney would be out "longer-term" with an upper body injury. Rowney was injured during Thursday night's game in Montreal.
• Zach Aston-Reese, out since Feb. 26 with an upper body injury, took the ice in a non-contact jersey at the end of practice.
• Phil Kessel was given a maintenance day.
MATT SUNDAY GALLERY
Penguins practice, UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex, March 17, 2018. - MATT SUNDAY / DKPS