Posted on 12th March 2011 by Gordon Johnson in Brain Injury
brain injury attorney, concussions and head checks, NHL and brain injury, NHL and concussions
National Hockey League general managers will be on the hot seat next week, pressured to put more teeth into a new rule regarding checks to the head, according to The New York Times.
http://slapshot.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/12/general-managers-likely-to-address-hits-to-head/?ref=sports
The GMs, who are holding their annual meeting in Florida, are not likely to ban hits to the head, The Times speculated. But they are expected to make Rule 48, which the GMs devised at their meeting last year, more stringent. Rule 48 bars blindside hits to the head and checks that target the head.
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman back in January deemed Rule 48 a success, because even though there were slightly more concussions in pro hockey this season those caused by head shots were down.
But that was then and this is now.
Since then, Canadiens’ Max Pacioretty sustained a concussion after being slammed into a stanchion by Boston Bruin Zdeno Chara. The late hockey enforcer Bob Probert was found to have been suffering from a degenerative brain disease that’s been blamed on repeated head injuries. And NHL player Sidney Crosby has been off the ice for two months after being hit in the head and suffering a concussion.
Most recently, Air Canada has threatened to pull its NHL sponsorship if the league doesn’t crack down on violence.
Let’s see what the GMs do.
Posted on 2nd February 2011 by Gordon Johnson in Brain Injury
NHL and brain injury, NHL and concussions
The number of concussions in pro hockey this season has risen, although the National Hockey League is keeping mum on exactly what the number is so far.
The New York Times published a story Sunday based on a news conference that NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman gave during All-Star weekend.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/30/sports/hockey/30nhl.html?_r=1&ref=hockey
He said that there has been an increase in concussions, but attributed that to “accidental and inadvertant” collisions and “fighting,” according to The Times. Direct hits to the head don’t account for the rise in concussions, according to the NHL.
One of the most noteworthy hockey concussions this season was the one sustained by Sidney Crosby, who was hit Jan. 1 and Jan. 5. Crosby was hurt Jan. 1 when another player moved past him, with his shoulder hitting Crosby’s head.
Rather foolishly, even though Crosby became to have concussion symptoms the day after that injury, he still went back to the rink to play. He took a hit Jan. 5, and was then benched.
This season there have been fewer concussions from blindside head shots, which Bettman said is due to Rule 48, which bans those hits.
Although Bettman wouldn’t say how many concussions there have been so far this season, a researcher said “there was a slight rise over the rate of roughly 75 concussions per year reported in recent seasons,” according to The Times.
Posted on 19th March 2010 by Gordon Johnson in Brain Injury
brain damage, brain injury attorney, Mark Sevard concussion, NHL and brain injury, NHL and concussion
The National Hockey League isn’t dragging its feet on the concussion issue. It is looking to adopt a rule that would ban blind-side checks to the head this season, according to several published reports Thursday.
NHL general managers met in Boca Raton, Fla., last week to essentially craft a ban on what are often called head shots. The group initially wanted to prohibit blind-side checks for next season, but then some of them pushed to have the process fast-tracked, so officials can impose penalties on those who engage in blind-side head checks this season. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/18/sports/hockey/18hits.html?ref=sports
The general managers moved for the quick action in the wake of a March 7 incident involving Boston Bruin Marc Savard, who may be out the rest of the season. He suffered a concussion after the Penguins Marr Cooke gave him a blind-side hit. http://articles.latimes.com/2010/mar/17/sports/la-sp-nhl-head-hit-20100318
Under the proposed NHL rule, such a hit would result in a two-minute or five-minute penalty. Cooke wasn’t penalized for his hit on Savard because currently blind-side hits to the head are legal in pro hockey.
The New York Times reported that on Wednesday the NFL office in Toronto started handing out a video that depicted what will and will not be permitted under the blind-side head check ban.
The proposed ban on the blind-side checks will have to be approved by the NHL competition committee, and which is comprised of five general managers and five players.
The Times says that the committee is expected to approve the ban, which has been advocated by the NHL players’ union. Then the ban would have to be approved unanimously by the NHL board of directors.
