A U.S. federal court in Minneapolis has "unsealed a trove of sensitive emails" sent between high-ranking NHL execs, including one email exchange in which NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly "links fighting in hockey to concussions, depression, and 'personal tragedies,'" according to Rick Westhead of TSN.ca. Daly's email "about 'personal tragedies'" was sent in September '11, after three NHL enforcers "died in a span of four months." Attorneys for a group of former players suing the league indicated that Daly’s email, which the NHL "battled to keep secret, appears to contradict the league’s public stance on the alleged link between hockey, and long-term brain injuries." Westhead noted NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman "for years has steadfastly denied that such a link exists." The documents disclosed by U.S. federal court Judge Susan Nelson are "among a series court exhibits that the NHL initially tried to keep hidden from public view." Among the newly unsealed documents is a '14 email sent by NHL Senior VP/Communications Gary Meagher, who wrote the NHL has "never been in the business of making the game safer on all levels" (TSN.ca, 3/28). THE HOCKEY NEWS' Matt Larkin wrote the former players "have a long way to go in their lawsuit, but the unsealed emails have to qualify as a victory for them and a blow to the league, as they make it much tougher for the league to deny knowledge of the link between concussions and long-term degenerative brain diseases" such as CTE (THEHOCKEYNEWS.com, 3/28).
BACK TOO SOON? In Philadelphia, Sam Donnellon reports Flyers C Claude Giroux was "back on the ice" for last night's game against the Jets after appearing on Saturday to have suffered his "second concussion within a span of five weeks." Giroux was "cleared by a physician ... despite closing his eyes for a few seconds after the hit, at least suggesting a momentary loss of consciousness." Giroux admitted he was a "little shaken up" after Saturday, but noted Flyers trainer Jim McCrossin "did a good job to make sure I got off there and make sure I'm OK." Donnellon notes McCrossin "did his job," but any loss of consciousness, "no matter how brief, is considered to be Grade III -- the most severe level -- by the American Academy of Neurology" (PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS, 3/29).
GO FIGURE: ESPN.com's Bonnie Ford wrote concussions "still fly under the radar as an issue in many individual and team sports." U.S. figure skater Ashley Wagner said that she has "suffered at least three concussions in training over the past 10 years that went undiagnosed until she self-reported symptoms and believes her cognitive abilities have been permanently affected" (
ESPN.com, 3/25).
