Gary Bettman: NHL Concussions Are Up, But From Accidental Plays
RALEIGH, N.C. – Talk about headshots is all the rage around the NHL right now, and there are discussions about implementing new rules to make the sport safer in regard to concussions.
But that may not be the best idea, commissioner Gary Bettman said Saturday evening as he announced that concussions are in fact up this season – but they’ve increased because of “accidental or inadvertent” contact.
“Most did not involve any contact whatsoever with the victim’s head by an opponent. I’m not saying no concussions came from hits to the head, but it appears that the increase came from somewhere else,” Bettman said at RBC Center before the NHL All-Star SuperSkills Competition.
“We’ve seen players suffer concussions this season when they’ve stumbled into the boards or other players without any contact at all. We’ve seen players suffer concussions when struck by pucks to the head. We’ve seen players concussed when they’ve collided with teammates and when they were hit legally and without head contact, after which their heads struck either the ice or the boards or the glass.”
One of those in particular should strike a chord with Flyers fans. It was in last year’s playoffs when Ian Laperriere was struck in the face with a puck while blocking a shot. He suffered a concussion and some brain damage and though he returned to play in the playoffs and in the preseason, he hasn’t played since and is expected to be forced to retire.
Bettman wasn’t at liberty to say how many concussions NHL players have suffered this season, and he emphasized that the data about accidental contact was preliminary but a sign of “the way things are trending.”
Either way, it’s an issue in hockey as it is in football, given recent studies that have shown long-term health problems resulting from concussions.
“Obviously this is an important matter,” Bettman said, “and we have treated it as such for years and we will continue to treat it as such.”
Bettman said concussions for blindside hits are down since the implementation of a new rule last March. Because of this, he said the idea of creating a new rule to cut down on headshots may not have the desired result of making the game safer.
The trend is still troubling.
“The number of concussions caused by accidental plays on the ice and inadvertent collisions with opponents has more than doubled year-to-year and has resulted in a three-fold increase in man games lost,” Bettman said
The NHL is continuing to look into the subject, with a lofty goal in mind.
“The ideal number of concussions is zero,” Bettman said.
Winter Classic?
As reports and speculation have surfaced linking the Flyers and possibly Lincoln Financial Field to the Winter Classic, Bettman tossed some cold water on that – at least for now.
“We do not have finalized plans yet. I haven’t had really in-depth conversations on either the Winter Classic or the Heritage Classic, and we’re still in the formulation stage,” he said. “To the extent people are suggesting particular locations or matchups or the like, you’re doing it having made judgments that we haven’t made yet.”
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