U.S. District Judge Susan Richard Nelson, who is overseeing the NHL’s concussion litigation, "wants the lawsuit, in some fashion, to go to trial this year," according to Rick Westhead of TSN.ca. Nelson "discussed the future of the case during a November court hearing, a transcript of which was unsealed" last week. Attorney Stephen Grygiel, one of the plaintiffs’ lawyers, said that Nelson has "said repeatedly that she wants the case in a courtroom sometime this year." The NHL concussion lawsuit started in '14 when a "group of players filed suit against the league ... charging the NHL willfully ignored science in its pursuit of profits." Lawyers involved in the suit said that it has since "expanded to include more than 150 players," and the case has been "transferred to Minneapolis." Grygiel said that a jury trial in the case would "probably take two weeks" (TSN.ca, 3/9).
LAST OF THE ENFORCERS? In Pittsburgh, Paul Zeise wrote it is "unfortunate" Penguins LW Tom Sestito was only "suspended four games for his cowardly late hit" on Jets D Toby Enstrom on Wednesday night. If the NHL had "any clue, Sestito would have been suspended for the rest of the season." Sestito’s job is to "try and hurt people," and the Penguins "should be ashamed of themselves for even having Sestito in the organization." It is "ridiculous they call him up to play on the same team with some of the most skilled players on the planet." Hockey is "physical by nature, but being physical and being a goon are not the same thing." It is "time for the NHL to make the status of goons go from 'rare' to 'extinct'" (POST-GAZETTE.com, 3/10).
THAT'S THE SPIRIT: Flyers RW Jakub Voracek on Friday "made it clear he was willing to put up with a compressed NHL schedule" to play in the '18 PyeongChang Games. Voracek: “We have it once every four years. I read something that [NHL Deputy Commissioner] Bill Daly said we’re not going (and) nobody wants to go. The players want to go. Why are you saying you’re not going? You’re not part of the players’ association. Nobody wants you there. They want the players” (Torrance DAILY BREEZE, 3/12).
