The N.F.L. Has Been Consumed by the Concussion Issue. Why Hasn’t the N.H.L.?

Mr. Bettman, a conclusive link has long been made between hard hits to the head and brain injury. It stands to reason that a sport which involves - and rewards - regular head impacts will have their players developing brain injury. So don't give me the usual corporate cop-out that 'all the evidence isn't in.' One issue that this article does bring up is that the culture of NHL hockey is violent. No other sport has an "enforcer" position. Hockey is a violent game when played without fights. The idea that fights somehow relieve pressure is ludicrous. There are enough "clean" hits to serve that purpose. The assumption that there needs to be someone on the ice to inflict punishment should be eliminated. Another solution is to make penalties more stringent. More major penalties, don't wipe a minor penalty after a goal, game suspensions for throwing punches. And what about the cold fact of your investment in a player? You've got millions of dollars wrapped up in him, and you're limiting your return if he dies or has to retire early. Is that a good business decision? God forbid it is. I think hockey is a great sport and I'm an avid Penguins fan. I appreciate that fights have gotten less common, but those that remain are not sport, and are a waste of my time. I want to see hockey players play hockey. (What a concept.) "I went to a fight and a hockey game broke out." Rodney Dangerfield

The reason the players mentioned in this story were the "enforcers" and therefore subject to more head trauma injuries is they were not good enough in their sport to be anything else. Maybe THEY should have realized that and looked for other work, even within the sport, before it killed them.

Because they lie and are pretty much an irrelevant sport.

What does it say about a society that requires violence to relieve tension? There was a story recently about fan injuries from foul balls in baseball. Commenters frequently upheld the responsibility for injury to inattentive fans. And guns. I am so sorry.

Hockey is not an inherently violent sport like football is. In hockey there need not be violence. The league has to come down hard on wanton, unnecessary roughness and violence and the fighting must go.

Get rid of Bettman, Mr. Denial. Sounds familiar when hundreds of millions are involved. Tighter hit rules and go back to the soft pads, if it hurts the hitter he will not hit as hard. These would help further. If there is no connection Bettman, why the concussion protocol eh!

This is not an issue for fans. This is not an issue for league officials. This is not an issue for legislators. This is an issue for mothers. Do not let your sons on the ice or the football field. They might be irrevocably damaged, even if they never get a scholarship or play professionally. It is not worth it.

A high level amateur hockey official, when asked what he wished he had not accomplished during his tenure said, “ I wish we had been able to let the dancers dance”. Instead, for the great players to display their skill, they needed a fighter enforcer on the line. .Gretzky needed Semenko. Bure had Odjick. Every supremely talented player needed a protector. Geordie Howe, well, he had himself. We in Vancouver look at Elias Pettersson, a superb hockey talent. Should the rules let his playmaking skills shine, dance if you like, or should we find a slow moving, but quick to a fight line mate to protect him? Let the dancers dance, let them safely thrill the fans with their skills. Follow basketball’s capacity to have bruising contact with no fighting or headshots.

As an avid hockey fan, and player through college, it's sad that the NHL is denying this exists as a problem. However, the NHL is doing tremendous work to combat head trauma. Examples: 1. players have to keep helmets on during fights (or an additional penalty is assessed), 2. starting a fight earns you an additional instigator penalty, 3. hits to the head are reviewed off-site and even if there's no penalty in a game, suspensions and fines are the norm, 4. repeat offenders receive worse and worse suspensions, and 5. new players in the NHL have to wear half-visors, All of this, to me, equates to a 'non-acknowledging acknowledgement' of the problem at hand. I hope that they make strides in improving player safety, but also eventually acknowledging this outright, even if it means coming to an agreement with the player's union on some form of settlement.

Ice hockey (often referred to as ice boxing) as seen on TV is a far different experience than watching games live. There are cringe worthy moments that are often missed by the cameras. Hockey has always been brutal, and the multitude of toothless players who need to grab their dentures before a TV interview are just the tip of the iceberg. It wasn't so long ago that players didn't have to wear helmets, and not long before that when the goalies were the only players wearing face protection. . . sometimes. Players streaking across the ice at high speed to bounce someones head off of the glass is narrated with glee and reverence for the 'tough' style of play. Puddles of blood on the ice beneath a fallen player is graphic and troublesome. I feel that ice hockey is more brutal than American football. The skaters speed, the projectile-like puck, sharp skates, the tolerance for fisticuffs, and a stick for each player often used like as a weapon, would likely result in arrests for assault if conducted outside of the arena. Football comes nowhere close to the physical brutality and physical demands of ice hockey. But football has higher visibility and much bigger budgets. Both sports exhibit physical brutality that make them difficult to enjoy without wondering about the pain and agony being experienced behind the scene back in the training room.

Older players may not have known what they were getting into but anyone who decides to play in future is making an informed decision to risk their future mental health for fun, fame and riches. That said, their leagues and their fans and all who profit from them are definitely guilty of creating such temptations.

While I am sympathetic to those who have lost husbands, wives, children to concussions, at this point, similar to those who continue to smoke, there is no doubt if you play sports that involve repeated blows to the head, you have placed your life and those close to you in jeopardy--that's a fact/not fake science. These types of sports make big money--so don't expect them find a safe way to play football or hockey..it is what it is...all those who play know the risk going into the sport.

I recommend reading Mr. Dryden’s book, Game Change, for more information on this subject. Everybody interviewed in the book talks about what a great guy Steve Montador was, and how he was not himself when he passed. Players are faster and stronger and the book posits that the NHL should penalize anybody who “finishes their check”, which means hitting a player who no longer has the puck, with a hit directed to the head. Dryden is right - unlike football, this is a simple and doable fix.