Mike Richter struggled to deal with the concussions that ended his brilliant NHL career -- and struggled Friday to put together the right words to share it for the first time.

It was a nightmare, the former New York Rangers goalie told his audience inside the auditorium at NYU Langone Medical Center.

His eyes searched the room for a connection, the way they once scanned the ice from his customary spot in the crease at Madison Square Garden. He saw future doctors and nurses sitting alongside some of the top minds in the medical field.

He believes they need to hear his story.

"As an athlete, it’s very disconcerting to hear very good people say, 'I don’t know,'" said Richter, speaking to NBC 4 New York about the concussions he suffered, noting it was the first time he’s opened up about it. "Hopefully that won’t be the response much longer."

Richter, now 48, admitted to being somewhat embarrassed by the way that he, like the rest of the NHL, once viewed concussions, though he won’t call the league negligent. He is aware of a class-action lawsuit against the NHL that has now reached 70 former players, but has not joined it.

Awareness is the immediate focus for the man who backstopped the Rangers to a Stanley Cup title in 1994. He’s never needed much prompting on that topic.

And he found a tone that resonated as he played back the moment that altered his brilliant career, a shot off the stick of Chris Tamer in a game against the Atlanta Thrashers on March 27, 2002. He still remembers the puck sounding like an exploding watermelon against the earhole of his helmet. The initial diagnosis was a fractured skull, but only after a dazed Richter was sent for X-rays by the Rangers perplexed medical staff.

"It went from, 'Are you okay? Can you go?' to ‘Your season is done," recalled Richter, who spent months trying to ready himself mentally for the 2002 season. It ended after he suffered a second concussion that November.

Months later, he was told his career was over. By that time, Richter was dealing with the lingering effects from his concussions. He was depressed and had trouble sleeping. Most frustrating for the man who was meticulous about his training, he couldn’t change this because there was no textbook for what to do.

"I had no clue before I was hit – before I went through what I went through – how devastating it can be," said Richter.

"If you break your hand, there’s six weeks. Twist your ankle? That’s two weeks. You know what the protocol is. But when you get into this area of the brain, there’s so much unknown," he said.

Awareness is heightened today thanks to advancements in research, like those Richter witnessed on Friday morning at the NYU Langone Concussion Center. He cited the ever-evolving work by Boston University researchers on Chronic Traumatic Encephelopathy (CTE), calling it "sobering stuff."

Richter has three sons who play hockey, and that’s part of what drove him to the podium at NYU on Friday. He spoke hopefully about blood and genetic tests that would help determine susceptibility to brain injury. He is eager to find answers.

"We need to understand what the real risks are and that’s why research is (so important)," he said. "It needs time, unfortunately, but we’re getting there."