Montador lawsuit brings NHL's ...

Gary Bettman, the NHL commissioner, has frequently disputed any relationship between brain injuries and CTE, or chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a degenerative brain illness caused by repetitive head trauma.

"The research addressing C.T.E., including the purported 'connection' to concussions that you mention, remains immature, particularly with respect to what causes C.T.E. and whether it can be recognized by specific clinical symptoms," Bettman wrote in response to a U.S. senator's inquiry in 2016. "The link between concussions and the claimed clinical signs of CTE remains uncertain."

Even in 2019, Bettman maintained his denial and denied the correlations between hockey-related brain trauma and CTE. Former NHL defender Chris Therien told Yahoo Sports in 2022 that "Gary Bettman denies that concussions are nearly real," expressing worry about Bettman's position on brain damage.

It's a direct contradiction to the NHL's prior position, which said Steve Montador, a 14-year NHL veteran with six NHL clubs, was aware of the risks of CTE and brain damage, which ultimately led to his death. Montador's father is now involved in a wrongful death litigation against the NHL in an Illinois state court, stemming from his son's death in 2015.

"During his life, Montador suffered with substance misuse, depression, anxiety, sleeplessness, and strained/abusive personal relationships," the NHL claimed this week in fresh court documents. "Despite being regularly told and made aware of potential long-term hazards of brain injuries, including CTE, by several sources, as mentioned above, Montador continued to play in the NHL for years."

The league went on to say:

"Montador was informed by various physicians that he should quit playing hockey because of his injury history," the NHL said. "Montador also explicitly told Blackhawks medical officials that he accepted the danger of continuing to play professional hockey."

Although the comments were widely condemned, according to Dr. Chris Nowinski, the founding CEO of the Concussion Legacy Foundation and a leading brain injury and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) specialist, the comments themselves are not more dangerous than the NHL's refusal to acknowledge CTE.

"Ever since CTE became a conversation point in 2007, the NHL has argued that there is no proof that their game causes CTE," Dr. Nowinski told Yahoo Sports. "To suggest that in 2023 is ridiculous."

leagues like as the NHL and NFL, and regard these organizations as groups "trying to do the right thing had some moral authority." In the example of Steve Montador, who died in 2015 at the age of 35, only four days before the birth of his baby, Dr. Nowinski believes Montador may have felt the NHL was acting in his best interests despite the facts.

"I wouldn't be surprised if Steve trusted the NHL...It's strange, but it's another indicator that the NHL knows their game doesn't cause CTE, but they're saying it to preserve their assets at the expense of the players' and the entire hockey community's health."

Dr. Nowinski noted that science isn't yet at the stage where people in their 30s, as Montador was at the time of his death, who have CTE can't make sound judgments, but there are examples of this happening. Dr. Nowinski cites the case of former NFL player Phillip Adams, who had CTE at the time he killed six strangers before killing himself at the age of 32. According to Dr. Ann McKee, who examined Adams' brain, his football activity "certainly... gave birth" to his CTE diagnosis, and Adams had a disability as a result of those injuries.