NHL to Address Concussions With Revised Plan Devised to Improve Safety
The National Hockey League will introduce a revised plan designed to improve player safety and address a rise in concussions, Commissioner Gary Bettman said.
Bettman announced his five-point plan, which includes more stringent protocols for players returning from concussions, after the first day of the NHL’s general manager meetings in Boca Raton, Florida. He said the revised policy is the latest step in the NHL’s effort to combat concussions and hits to the head, a campaign that started in 1997.
“We are the first league that has had a protocol for the diagnosis and return-to-play decisions,” Bettman said yesterday during a news conference. “We are the first sports league to do baseline testing with respect to concussions and this is just another in a series of steps.”
Bettman’s announcement came the same day Sidney Crosby returned to practice for the Pittsburgh Penguins after missing 29 games with a concussion.
Crosby was injured Jan. 1 when he collided with Washington’s David Steckel during the second period of the Winter Classic. Crosby returned to that game without a baseline test to determine if he suffered a concussion.
Under the new policy, players who show signs of a concussion can’t be evaluated on the team bench by a trainer. They have to be taken to a quiet place and evaluated by a team physician before being cleared to play.
The NHL’s hockey operations department found that 44 percent of the almost 80 concussions suffered this season were the result of legal hits. Twenty-six percent came from accidental hits, including a collision with another player, getting struck by a puck or when a player falls and strikes his head on the ice or boards.
Illegal Hits
Illegal hits or body checks accounted for 17 percent of the concussions, with 8 percent the result of fights. Five percent weren’t categorized because of a lack of details.
“The statistics tell you there is no magic bullet in dealing with this,” Bettman said. “It is an emotional, intense subject -- especially for our fans. But dealing with this issue is not something you can just do whimsically or emotionally. You really have to understand what is going on.”
Bettman said the NHL would examine ways to make player equipment safer and will replace seamless tempered glass that surrounds six NHL rinks with Plexiglas by the start of the 2011- 12 season. In addition, former players Brendan Shanahan, Rob Blake, Joe Nieuwendyk and Steve Yzerman will be part of a committee to study player-safety issues.
“We welcome these steps and look forward to discussing these and other issues with the NHL to provide a safer working environment for the players,” NHL Players Executive Director Don Fehr said in an e-mailed statement.
Bettman said general managers will continue to address safety concerns and recommendations for rule changes over the next two days. Among topics being discussed is defining what constitutes legal and illegal hits.
To contact the reporter on this story: Erik Matuszewski in New York at matuszewski@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Sillup at msillup@bloomberg.net
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