US Senator Richard Blumenthal Writes Letter to NHL Regarding CTE, Head Injuries

Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal wrote a letter to NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, imploring him and the league to bolster their efforts in raising awareness about the potential link between hockey and brain trauma.  

Blumenthal released the letter Thursday. He cited prior comments Bettman made that seemed "dismissive" of chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, and other head trauma in the aftermath of the NFL's first public acknowledgement of the link in its sport.

Regarding the comparison between the two major North American sports, the senator's letter read in part:

"

While hockey and football are certainly different, both are full-contact sports that likely present risks to their participants. Furthermore, it is clear from the deaths of six former NHL players—Derek Boogard, Reg Fleming, Bob Probert, Rick Martin, Steve Montador and now Larry Zeidel—whose brains have been determined to contain evidence of CTE, that the risks are certainly real.

"

Bettman tried to avoid the topic in his remarks from March, saying, per TSN.ca, "Well, first of all, I don't feel that it's either necessary or appropriate for me to comment on what the NFL says or does. Secondly, I think it's fairly clear that playing hockey isn't the same as football. And as we've said all along, we're not going to get into a public debate on this."

TSN's Rick Westhead logged another key portion of Blumenthal's letter, which cited a report by John Branch of the New York Times, referencing emails from top NHL officials who said the league had abstained from ensuring the game's safety:

Those emails refer to how fights increase concussion risk, but the league isn't eradicating or diminishing that part of the sport even though those altercations could lead to traumatic head injuries.

"Fighting raises the incidence of head injuries/concussions, which raises the incidence of depression onset, which raises the incidence of personal tragedies," said NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly, per Branch's report.

An ongoing lawsuit involving a group of former players seeks a settlement from the NHL for its handling of concussions, per Westhead.

The league is arguing that the collective bargaining agreement covers health and safety issues, such as concussions, and therefore can't be subjected to court action in this case. The issue should instead be resolved through arbitration, per the league. However, according to a case lawyer Westhead spoke to, former players can't file arbitration complaints.

Whereas a Boston University study concluded 87 of 91 former NFL players tested positive for CTE, the NHL hasn't had the same amount of clear-cut findings, possibly because of a lack of research conducted on former NHL players.

But between the current lawsuit and the deaths Blumenthal cited in his letter, there are grounds for the NHL to make CTE and head injuries greater priorities.