The NHL has the "dubious distinction of being the only league still denying" that playing the game can cause long-term head injuries and CTE after the NFL "finally admitted the obvious," according to HBO's Bryant Gumbel. Tuesday's episode of "Real Sports" examined concussions in hockey, and Gumbel said, "That denial is putting the world's best hockey players at deadly risk." HBO's David Scott noted that after former NHLer Steve Montador died at 35 in ’15, he was diagnosed with CTE. However, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman "insists there's no proof that hockey can lead to CTE at all." The NHL's position appears to "run counter to a mountain of scientific evidence, not to mention conventional wisdom, that getting hit in the head, hard and often, can be hazardous to one's health." Hockey HOFer Ken Dryden said if there are a "bunch of players that are experiencing these symptoms, significant depression, problems with anxiety, terrible problems in terms of memory, you might say to yourself, ‘You know, maybe there's something we should do about this.’” Dryden is "calling out the league for continuing to permit head hits.” Scott noted the NHL "has not donated any money to any of the major centers of concussion study in North America." The league claims that it has "taken action by relying on so-called ‘spotters’ at games to get concussed players off the ice." However, the spotters "don't have to be medical experts and are often just team coaches." With many former players suing the NHL, Bettman's hand "may only be forced by a loss in court.”
GETTING TO THE ROOT OF THE ISSUE: Gumbel after the taped piece asked Scott, “Do you get the feeling that Gary Bettman is doing the owners’ bidding on this, or is he clueless on his own?” Scott responded, "That's what everybody says, but Bettman has a long record at the helm of that league and by all accounts, he’s driving the bus." Scott noted the NHLPA has been "much more active, but they’re much less powerful than the league." Scott: "They’re trying to work with the league from inside, but now they face the situation where very soon it will be hundreds of plaintiffs calling for help to face the future with CTE” ("Real Sports," HBO, 2/27).
