Concussions in the NHL

Many hockey players and fans know the dangers of playing hockey. It was reported that during a 7 year span in the NHL there were 559 concussions reported by team physicians. There are around 23 players on an NHL roster and there are 31 teams in the NHL. There are about 713 players on NHL rosters each year. Approximately 11% of the total number of players in the NHL get concussed a year. According to ex NHL players, Dan Carcillo and Nick Boynton, the NHL allowed and encouraged them to continue playing after receiving concussions. Carcillo also says that, “Players today are still being denied proper care for concussions.” That is why Dan Carcillo and Nick Boynton have joined many others to take action against the NHL to treat concussions properly.(Click here if you want to learn more about Dan Carcillo and Nick Boynton's lawsuit.) Carcillo has said that a reason he has fought so hard against the NHL is because he lost one of his closest friends and teammates, Steve Montador. Steve Montador lost his life to chronic trauma encephalopathy, or CTE on February 15, 2015.

In 2013 after receiving negative publicity over a series of suicides related to permanent brain damage, the NFL agreed to pay around a billion dollars to retired NFL players with neurological and cognitive problems. The NHL hasn’t followed the same path as the NFL. The NHL has been fighting off lawsuits for the past 4 years. The commissioner of the NHL, Gary Bettman, has tried to close cases against the NHL and has questioned evidence linking head hits and brain trauma. (Click here to learn more about Gary Bettman talking about brain damage and CTE.)

If you were the commissioner of the NHL what would you do to solve these problems? Do you think the NHL should continue to take the path it’s taking or go down the path the NFL took?




Comments

  1. PJ SOctober 3, 2018 at 8:30 PM

    The NHL is being put in a very difficult situation. Although I don't believe it is their responsibility to pay former players that are suffering from neurological and cognitive problems, I think that it should be. The NHL has made billions of dollars off of their athletes putting their health and safety on the line every day, and the players should be rewarded for that. Not every player is lucky enough to make millions of dollars to support themselves for the rest of their lives, so the NHL should step up, just like the NFL did and pay players that are suffering.

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  2. Mr. LawlerOctober 5, 2018 at 7:11 AM

    Nice post, Luke. I think the NHL (and all leagues where extreme contact is common in their sport) should go to great lengths to inform their players of the dangers of the sport. Moreover, they should treat injured athletes with the utmost care. From that point, if an adult wants to continue to play the sport and assume the risk associated with the sport, then that's his decision.

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