Chicago Blackhawks: The Daniel Carcillo Story (Part IV: CTE and the NHL)

Recently, more and more players are joining the fight in hockey. However, these fights aren’t against other players, but rather, against the NHL itself. Daniel Carcillo is one of many players who are now suing the NHL for withholding information about traumatic brain injuries. 

As we enter into the fourth part of The Daniel Carcillo Story, let’s recap each crucial piece of Daniel’s saga thus far.

In Part I: The Road To The NHL, we detailed Daniel’s life growing up. Specifically, how he made his way into the NHL and the countless injuries and TBIs he’s dealt with.

Part II: Steve Montador got into the unfortunate death of Daniel Carcillo’s best friend, former Chicago Blackhawk Steve Montador. Montador suffered from depression as a result of the multiple concussions and TBIs (Traumatic Brain Injuries) he sustained in his career in the National Hockey League.

Part III: Chapter 5 covered how Daniel responded to the loss of his friend, Steve Montador. The NHL doesn’t have much of an exit program for players, so he created Chapter 5. Chapter 5 is designed to help players suffering with anxiety/depression after their playing career. Additionally, it’s a quality resource for wives/families.

Part IV will discuss why Chapter 5 and creating conversation on this topic are not only important, but necessary.

Part IV: CTE

The NHL is starting to rapidly fall behind. The NFL, perhaps the most violent main-stream sport, has acknowledged the connection between repeated blows to the head and CTE. The NFL has a reputation of being “behind the times” in regards to some things, (for example, their stance on anthem protests) yet they are light-years ahead of the NHL in regards to how they handle head injuries.

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These head injuries often-times lead to CTE. CTE, or Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, is caused by “repetitive hits to the head sustained over a period of years” and boxers, hockey players, football players, and veterans are listed as some of those most at risk. It certainly makes sense hockey players would be one of the most at risk considering the violent nature of the sport.

That being said, the NHL sees no correlation between players who have died having CTE and hockey.

No. Correlation.

The people who’ve died because of concussions they sustained while playing in the National Hockey League?

The NHL doesn’t see any connection.