Speaking at last month’s Concussion Legacy Foundation’s Gala, NHLPA president Marty Walsh made headlines by announcing the union is forming its first-ever CTE Advisory Committee to help hockey players better understand CTE and the impact of concussions on the brain.
Walsh received CLF’s 2024 Impact Award for his advocacy on behalf of current and future pro hockey players.
The committee will be guided by medical experts and initially include 10 current players. Its goal in the future is to include one representative from each of the league’s 32 teams.
“I think it’s important for us to really do research of our own, to create an opportunity for players to understand the full impact of CTE,” said Walsh. “You have to understand the importance and the benefits of playing professional hockey, but you also have to look at the other side of the coin – the impact it has on players’ physical well-being and their head.”
Despite 12 of 13 former NHL players whose brains were studied by the UNITE Brain Bank being diagnosed with CTE, the NHL continues to deny a link between repetitive head hits and the degenerative brain disease.
“The NHLPA starting a committee is huge for the players,” said CLF co-founder and CEO Dr. Chris Nowinski. “They need to choose their own destiny and I don’t think they’ve been getting the truth from the NHL.”
