Those pundits who are quick to find the timing of the Bruins announcement that Marc Savard will be sidelined indefinitely while suffering from post-concussion syndrome somewhat dubious, should take note of a similar situation effecting skilled NHL veteran winger Paul Kariya.

Kariya had suffered serious concussions earlier in his career and while skating for the St. Louis Blues last season he was elbowed in the head by Buffalo’s Patrick Kaleta on Dec. 27.

Kariya missed six games after the December hit, but he returned to play out the remainder of the Blues schedule.

Yet, on Aug. 28 Kariya’s agent issued a shocking statement indicating that Kariya would miss the entire 2010-11 season due to post-concussion syndrome. Kariya is an unrestricted free agent and could hardly be seeking to help his market value by being held out for a full season.

Savard missed nearly two months of play after suffering a serious concussion resulting from a Matt Cooke blindside hit on March 8. Like Kariya, Savard returned to play, skating in all seven games of the Bruins second-round series with Philadelphia. But simply returning to game action does not necessarily mean that the effects of Savard’s concussion were fully resolved.

While there has been no suggestion that Savard could miss the entire season like Kariya, the full specter of post-concussion syndrome is not something to be taken lightly, or quickly ridiculed.