The new and improved concussion thread II - Hockey Hall of Famer Henri Richard had stage 3 CTE at time of death, study finds

[Llama19]

NHL and Todd Ewen's widow fight over text message records

To quote:

"The National Hockey League is in a battle with Kelli Ewen, the widow of deceased NHL player Todd Ewen, over access to the contents of his iPhone 4 - text messages and data the NHL says may play a key role in Kelli’s lawsuit against the league.

Kelli Ewen filed a wrongful death claim against the NHL in April 2019, alleging Todd’s suicide in 2015 was linked to the league allegedly downplaying the potential long-term consequences of repeated brain trauma and profiting from a culture of violence.

Todd’s case has played a key role in the debate over chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) and concussions in hockey."

Source: www.tsn.ca/nhl-and-todd-ewen-s-widow-fight-over-text-message-records-1.1551069

 

[Llama19]

 

[Llama19]

NHL in legal battle with insurers refusing to pay concussion lawsuit costs

Source: www.tsn.ca/westhead-nhl-in-legal-battle-with-insurers-refusing-to-pay-concussion-lawsuit-costs-1.1555455

 

[Llama19]

 

[tarheelhockey]

Holy smokes do those quotes from Walkom and Brown give the league a bad look.

 

[Llama19]

‘I was lost.’ Ex-NHL enforcer Daniel Carcillo says magic mushrooms saved his life and offer real hope for mental health treatment

To quote:

"In the more than five years since he last played an NHL game, Daniel Carcillo has resided in some frighteningly dark places.

Once an enforcer who traded punches in about 100 NHL fights, he says at times he’s found himself trapped in a downward spiral of depression and anxiety — mental health disorders that have been linked to the repetitive head trauma he suffered as a player. And though he has fought hard to get better — researching no end of treatments and spending more than $200,000 over a four-year period at various medical clinics in search of relief from a laundry list of symptoms that also included a failing memory, insomnia and impulse-control issues — a raft of prescribed remedies have proven, at best, temporary. Nothing worked for long."

Source: www.thestar.com/sports/hockey/opinion/2020/11/28/i-was-lost-ex-nhl-enforcer-daniel-carcillo-says-magic-mushrooms-saved-his-life-and-offer-real-hope-for-mental-health-treatment.html

 

[LadyStanley]

Paywall, I'm assuming.

Related, but perhaps not concussions.

Mark Parrish shares his story of pain killer addiction and alcoholism. Finally admitted he needed help and went into rehab just before season was paused.

(He owns part of a vodka company and his wife sells wine. They have the alcohol in the house locked up and only his wife knows the combo.)

Still deals with anxiety. Especially public appearances.

 

[Llama19]

Judge terminates Montador family lawsuit against NHL, leaving room for new litigation

To quote:

"A U.S. federal court judge has terminated a five-year-old wrongful death lawsuit filed by the father of the late Steve Montador, which alleged the National Hockey League has promoted violence and profited off of it while not adequately advising players of the risks of repeated long-term brain injuries.

In a Nov. 24 order, Judge John Z. Lee wrote that he was granting in part and denying in part the NHL’s motion for summary judgment in the case.

Lee wrote that Paul Montador could still pursue negligence claims against the NHL that allege the league has unreasonably promoted a culture of violence, and it implicitly communicated to [Steve] that the brain trauma he suffered was not dangerous.

“The duties upon which Montador relies for these two claims, a duty to not unreasonably promote violence and the duty to refrain from misrepresentative statements, are not grounded in the CBAs…. Accordingly, these two claims are not pre-empted…,” Lee wrote. “Given that Montador may seek to amend his pleadings with additional facts and legal theories to maximize his chance of success on these two particular claims and the claims themselves likely will raise novel issues of state law, it is not at all clear how they will be decided.”

Paul Montador could appeal the decision. His lawyer, Bill Gibbs, said his client is “exploring options.”"

Source: www.tsn.ca/westhead-judge-terminates-montador-family-lawsuit-against-nhl-leaving-room-for-new-litigation-1.1563006

 

[Llama19]

Former NHL player says psilocybin mushrooms saved his life

SportsPulse: USA TODAY Sports sits down with former NHL player Daniel Carcillo to discuss the ways he fought the symptoms of traumatic brain injuries sustained during his career.

Source (Video): www.usatoday.com/videos/sports/nhl/sportspulse/2021/02/19/former-nhl-player-says-psilocybin-mushrooms-saved-his-life/4499796001/

 

[LadyStanley]

Paywall. Open discussion.

 

[Legionnaire11]

New concussion diagnosis emerges: Saliva test boosts efforts to detect concussions in rugby

This could be huge in the world of sports in terms of accurately diagnosing head injuries, definitely something to keep watching.

 

[LadyStanley]

Between the saliva and eye tracking, it may be getting much easier to diagnose. (But still not sending enough guys in for "quiet time" fast enough for me.)

 

[FeatherHead]

Pretty scary. And Thomas was a goaltender. I just never would have imagined anyone playing at that position would have incurred so much damage above the shoulders.

 

[Llama19]

Blackhawks’ Andrew Shaw announces end of his playing career

To quote:

"Andrew Shaw of the Blackhawks announced on Monday he is ending his playing career following several concussions.

“There comes a time when every athlete needs to realize when their health is a priority and a future with their family is what is most important,” Shaw wrote in a statement. “That point for me is now. After several concussions, doctors have strongly recommended I stop playing the game that I love. For once in my life, I am going to listen.”"

Source: nhl.nbcsports.com/2021/04/26/blackhawks-andrew-shaw-announces-end-of-his-playing-career/

 

[LeHab]

Insurers and NHL suing each other over legal fees overbilling:

NHL paid $70.6 million in legal fees for concussion settlement that paid players $18.49 million

More work for lawyers...

 

[Porter Stoutheart]

Pretty scary. And Thomas was a goaltender. I just never would have imagined anyone playing at that position would have incurred so much damage above the shoulders.

I dunno, my oldest is on the ice 8-10 hrs a week, and in that time he probably gets his "cage rattled" 3-5 times a week be it in practices, warmups, games. And I'm only talking the serious dings. We quickly stepped him up to the pro level masks a couple years ago (he's U18 now). But he's still basically getting hit square in the head with a rock at 80 mph a couple hundred times a year.

The mask prevents actual scarring, say, but you still get the frequent sudden impacts. Like a boxing glove takes the sharp edges off a punch to the face, but you're still getting hit in the head, even if there is an inch of foam and plastic in between.

 

[Doctor No]

I've had a "few" (diagnosed) concussions as a hockey goaltender - my biggest problems were the shots that don't catch you square (typically deflections or screens), but the repeated squared-up shots do have an effect, too.

Worst two:

We were warming up prior to a college game, and some dipstick decided that they would tip a puck from one blueline shooter WHILE I WAS FACING ANOTHER SHOOTER. Many people attend CU-Boulder for a number of reasons, but not necessarily because they're smart. Anyhow, it hit me right over the ear and split my drum. Our other rostered goalie had injured himself in the morning, and so I stood in the net until we could get someone to come over and suit up. I did get to keep the sweater, at least, and you can still see some of the blood if you know where you're looking.

Other one was in practice - I dove out to poke check someone coming in on a break, and he decided that he would vault me lengthwise. He vaulted about as well as I goaltended, and I took his knee square in the head.

Honestly, the games aren't that bad, but for every shot you face in the game, you probably see 20-25 in practice, drop-ins, and scrimmages.

Warmups still kill me - about 1/3 of beer leaguers know how to do warmups; the others want to (a) show you how hard they can shoot or (b) show you how many dekes they can accomplish with infinite time and space to work with. I still remember subbing for a goalie friend of mine (skating out), and I was warming her up as I do with "my" goalies - blocker, trapper, pad, pad, repeat. I go to the bench and the captain said "Dougie, you've got a great shot but you need to work on your aim - all of your shots were right into her gear." I didn't say a word in response, but have probably told the story 50 times since.

 

[CrazyEddie20]

I've had a "few" (diagnosed) concussions as a hockey goaltender - my biggest problems were the shots that don't catch you square (typically deflections or screens), but the repeated squared-up shots do have an effect, too.

...Honestly, the games aren't that bad, but for every shot you face in the game, you probably see 20-25 in practice, drop-ins, and scrimmages.

Warmups still kill me - about 1/3 of beer leaguers know how to do warmups; the others want to (a) show you how hard they can shoot or (b) show you how many dekes they can accomplish with infinite time and space to work with. I still remember subbing for a goalie friend of mine (skating out), and I was warming her up as I do with "my" goalies - blocker, trapper, pad, pad, repeat. I go to the bench and the captain said "Dougie, you've got a great shot but you need to work on your aim - all of your shots were right into her gear." I didn't say a word in response, but have probably told the story 50 times since.

I've had four diagnosed concussions from goaltending, all between age 18 and 24.

The worst was from a warm-up clapper that hit my Itech 960 just above the screws holding the cage. I was knocked out and fell forward onto the ice. Another was an accidental elbow under the chin from my own d-man. The other two were from shots.

I had a bad one about five years ago as an official - a player coming off for a change blew a tire and took my legs out from behind. I landed on my back and hit the back of my helmet on the ice. Finished the game and drove home. That wasn't a good idea, in retrospect.

What you described in warmups is why I never played goal in beer leagues.

 

[LadyStanley]

In a fluke accident Thursday night, TML captain Tavares got kneed in the head. (He fell to the ice and when opposition player tried to jump him, didn't get up high enough and ended up kneeing him.)

Taken off on stretcher to hospital. (Obviously worried about more than concussion with the potential for neck injury.) Released Friday morning. Out indefinitely.

Maple Leafs' John Tavares releases first comments since concussion vs. Canadiens

Saturday - reports are there is no neck/spine structural issues, but he does have a concussion/out indefinitely.

 

[Llama19]

NHL Under Oath

In a five-part series this week, TSN will report details of the sworn testimony of team owners, league officials, team trainers and doctors and medical consultants to the NHL and NHLPA, as well as former players in connection with the NHL concussion lawsuit.

www.tsn.ca/concussions/under-oath

 

[Llama19]

 

[Llama19]

Report (PDF): concussionfoundation.org/sites/default/files/1000-reasons-for-hope/index.html

 

[Llama19]

Her fight with NHL over, Kelli Ewen wants to help partners of struggling players

To quote:

"For two years, Kelli Ewen battled the National Hockey League in a legal scrap that has been akin to a venom-laced, back-alley brawl.

Ewen’s husband, Todd, a 12-year NHL veteran player, died by suicide in 2015 and Kelli argued in a lawsuit filed in 2019 in U.S. federal court in California that the league used Todd to wrongly cloud the science over brain trauma, and profited off his fighting ability while never warning him of the dangers of repeated concussions. The NHL sought intimate details of the couple's relationship.

But after settling the litigation in May – terms of the settlement are confidential – Ewen says she’s shifting her attention to a positive mission. She wants to become an advocate for the wives and partners of other active and retired NHL players who are beginning to show signs of neurological damage."

Source: www.tsn.ca/her-fight-with-nhl-over-kelli-ewen-wants-to-help-partners-of-struggling-players-1.1664030

 

[Llama19]

 

[LadyStanley]

The rest of the twitter thread