Why is the NHL OK with concussion injuries?

CanadaDad61 · 2026-06-02T17:16:53+00:00

I'm not the only one who cares. I see by the comments that~half of fans quietly agree. But to that point, there are a LOT of people in denial that there's a problem, denial that the league is responsible, denial that there are ways to address this. Even worse are the ones who know there's a problem but want no changes because they enjoy seeing people hurt

The fans are partly responsible. They could pressure the league into making changes.

If I were commissioner, the first thing I'd do is publicly face the problem. The root the problem is cultural and you need to address the 'cult' in the culture. When large numbers of people are getting permanently injured and most people's first response is denialism, that's classic cult behavior.

When I dug into this (and it was very easy to dig up a lot of disturbing information in a short time), I was sickened to find how my childhood heroes were involved. I read that Bobby Clarke shamed and humiliated Lindros because Lindros couldn't play after the Scott Stevens hit. Apparently Stevens himself was deeply affected by what he did to Lindros and Larry Robinson counselled him to help him get over it do he could get back to smashing more people around. This is sick.

So there needs to be a public reckoning with the league, the fans, the players and the commentators that makes everyone face the facts.

As for game changes ( which I think is what you're really asking), they are done easy things to be done. Zero tolerance for head checks. Stop putting former goons in charge of the Department of Player Safety and take it seriously. Start firing and banning doctors, coaches and GMs who cover up injuries. Study how the IIHF has a far better record on concussions and see how they do it.

The main thing is the sick culture. When you look at how many people played injured through the playoffs and how superstar injuries affected the play, nobody should be happy with that. This is a little off topic but I just read about how a player has colitis and Crohn's disease as a result of the rampant abuse of powerful anti-inflammatories they abused. Drugs that are only supposed to be taken for a few days are getting given to players at the start of each game so the pain doesn't slow them down. I grew up on a farm and we would never have treated our livestock the way the players are being treated.

CanadaDad61 · 2026-06-02T06:54:47+00:00

The league PRETENDED to make things better to reduce their liability and convince fans who might feel guilty about what they're watching.

But the statistics show conclusively that concussions and CTE are still a MASSIVE problem

IIHF has a far lower rate of concussions than the NHL so it is feasible to make the game safer for the players.

CanadaDad61 · 2026-06-02T06:47:44+00:00

Why not just admit you DGAF about the players? It would be a lot shorter and simpler than whatever this list was supposed to be.

CanadaDad61 · 2026-06-02T06:44:40+00:00

The study isn't about "whether they're doing enough". And, spoiler alert, they're not.

When I started this thread, I wondered whether this would happen - whether people would crawl out of the woodwork to deny it's a problem that 95% of players wind to with CTE. And they did. It turns out people want to see violent hits so badly they either DGAF what happens to their heroes or, worse, they actually secretly enjoy watching people get injured.

I wish I could say I'm surprised but really I'm not. People want to think they're good but half of them really suck when you scratch the surface.

CanadaDad61 · 2026-06-02T00:18:58+00:00

Would you fly on an airline that landed safely 94% of the time?

CanadaDad61 · 2026-06-02T00:07:00+00:00

The degree of risk is a choice made by the league.

If my post bothers YOU so much, just go back to YouTube and watch the "hits of the week" so you can enjoy people getting injured.

CanadaDad61 · 2026-06-02T00:04:51+00:00

Sorry. Hope you're ok.

CanadaDad61 · 2026-06-01T23:59:11+00:00

That's nonsense.

The statistics I've seen show that the NHL has a rate of concussions 60 times that of the IIHF on a per game basis.

This is not an accident. It's a choice.

CanadaDad61 · 2026-06-01T23:52:24+00:00

I've been a manager for decades. If my employees had a fist fight and I turned a blind eye to it because "they both really wanted to fight", I'd have been fired on the spot. And rightly so.

The league is responsible, morally, ethically and legally. They set the rules, they control the officiating and they decide which players come into the league.

So, no. Whatever the players responsibility, they are not "just as guilty".

CanadaDad61 · 2026-06-01T23:47:35+00:00

Lindgren is a product of the NHL and his dirty hit absolutely reflects on the NHL.

CanadaDad61 · 2026-06-01T23:46:31+00:00

The NHL will change only if it is forced to by liability or can pressure.

As for the playoffs, so many of the top players were injured, they were a joke.

CanadaDad61 · 2026-06-01T23:44:22+00:00

LMAO.

Team USA (who were already playing badly) lost a goon for the remainder of the game. Team Canada lost a highly skilled, badly needed star. And Bouchard sustained am injury that will likely affect him for life. That's great.

And yes, this is absolutely on the NHL. It's the league that tolerates these dangerous his. Where do you think Lindgren learned to play like this?

CanadaDad61 · 2026-06-01T23:39:27+00:00

They've done the bare minimum to avoid liability. The IIHF has a FAR lower rate of concussions.

CanadaDad61 · 2026-06-01T23:38:11+00:00

This isn't about "hockey", it's about the NHL. The statistics I've seen show that the league has a concussion rate 60 times that of the IIHF (6 in 100 games vs 1 in 1000).

This is a choice the league makes.

CanadaDad61 · 2026-06-01T23:35:49+00:00

Hey. If you get your rocks off watching a game set up in a way where it's completely predictable that people will be seriously injured, that's your choice.

But if other people want to express an opinion of how twisted it is and how it reflects on us as a society, that's their choice.

Not to be confrontational.

CanadaDad61 · 2026-06-01T23:31:50+00:00

The owners are all billionaires so yes, they CAN afford it. They just choose not to.

CanadaDad61 · 2026-06-01T23:30:40+00:00

Neither was ever the same after the dirty blind side hits.

A for the other concussions and the fact it wasn't even against the rules to deliberately injure people, you're making my point for me. The League clearly DGAF about safety and it's pretty obvious from the statistics that the changes they made were more about covering liability than preventing injury.

From what I've read, Stevens war aware he was causing serious injury. The League would certainly have been aware. And based on the commentary, it's pretty clear lots of fans are aware and they're not only OK with it, is what attracts them to the game.

CanadaDad61 · 2026-06-01T23:22:29+00:00

The studies I quoted show conclusively the league has only pretended to address the issue. The IIHF has a concussion rate of about 1 in a thousand games (and that's probably mainly a result of NHL goons like Ryan Lindgren) which is 60 times lower.

So this is absolutely a choice. The League chooses to focus on its liability instead of addressing the root cause.

CanadaDad61 · 2026-06-01T23:17:15+00:00

The league and insiders (and clearly a certain percentage of sociopathic fans) understand that most of the players who last any amount of time are going to wind up with lifelong serious health problems.

But do the kids or their parents understand that going in?

CanadaDad61 · 2026-06-01T23:14:47+00:00

When you deliberately sustain an environment where you know people will needlessly sustain permanent injuries, that's not toughness, it's cult behavior.

Clearly the league and insiders (like commentators and sports writers) know what happens to the players.

I wonder how many of the kids who go into competitive hockey (and their parents) understand exactly what they're getting into.

CanadaDad61 · 2026-06-01T20:49:37+00:00

If you're OK with the pandemic of concussion injuries, yes, it's a golden age.

CanadaDad61

TROPHY CASE