Hard to say if "wishful thinking" having not read the book. The article he wrote fairly brief, high on philosophy, low on details, specifics. But thats Ken Dryden. Ask him what time it is and he'll build you watch, explaining what purpose & the importance all the cogs' & wheels... droning on & on.... ZzzzzZzzzzzzz....... However, by his own admission in the article "accidents will happen" resulting in concussions. A deflected puck, someone unprepared taking a hit & falling awkwardly, head hitting the ice, the boards, a goalpost, another player or whatever. The first thing kids are taught when playing the game is that you keep your head up at all times, your stick on the ice if engaged in the play. However, it was/is perfectly acceptable to hit someone carrying (we rarely see players carrying the puck anymore, all passing) the puck with their head down provided its a "clean check", stick & elbows down, check delivered to the upper body... Stevens on Lindros, Quinn on Orr, Gadsby on Horton etc & each case major damage, concussions.
So how do you fix that? Cant hit someone with their head down? Im not talking late hits or blindsiders. I mean clean hits delivered at speed upper or even lower body resulting in whiplash, head hitting ice, boards, post. Its my opinion this situation is systemic, starts in minor hockey, entry level on up, players "over-equipped" with helmets & cages, Robo Cop body armor, composite sticks, "hitting" rather than "checking", too many late hits, the Rules not being enforced, the Code eliminated with the institution of the Instigator Rule whereby players themselves would mete out justice to anyone targeting the head, and targeting the head btw pre-helmet era absolutely verboten..... And of course the counter-argument to that is "sure, but back then no one understood the ramifications, concussions going unrecognized, just got his Bell Rung, be fine, suck it up Buttercup". Well, weve come a long way since then, too far in fact, the NHL in messing with the Rules, removing the Center Ice Red Line (no brakes, too much speed, that needs to be put back) & creating the Trapezoid (Goalies need to be able to play the puck in the corners etc in order to help avoid high speed high impact hits) while equipment "advances" have in fact been retrograde, responsible for much of the damage being wrought.
The way the games taught, coached, micro-managed. Drydens absolutely correct that there is no way to completely eradicate concussions from the game but that it can be minimized, however.... to do so will require a sea change, complete re-think of the game top to bottom, rolling back, dispensing with various rule changes, equipment manufacturers on-board with "soft" shoulder padding, banning composites, banning cages & face shields (players who are injured, stitches, broken nose or whatever who do play using a face guard to protect the injury not permitted to play at all) and on & on & on. This is not just me saying this. Ive heard the same from all kinds of people including the likes of Bobby Orr, Bobby Hull & countless dozens upon dozens of other former NHL players, Coaches, Referee's & Administrators. Concussions cant be completely eliminated but the potential can & with the advances made, being made in diagnosis & treatment..... Be interesting to read Drydens book, see what he recommends.
..... and good for Shawn Stuckey (Peluso's Attorney, former NFL Linebacker, voted "1 of the Top 100 Lawyers in California" though I think he might reside in Minnesota). Those Subpoena's absolutely warranted as outlined therein.... of course.... I'm not a Lawyer nor do I play one on TV but still.... seems beyond reasonable common sense to me. Processes here between the League & the Teams. Entirely relevant & important that those 3 guys be deposed, questioned.
ah, ya.... Dave would be Ken's older brother..... and no, Bettman's not about to be accepting any responsibility or accept any culpability on behalf of the NHL..... the potential costs in doing so would easily exceed a billion in payouts.
