Attorneys have amended the class action complaint in the matter of Leeman, et al. v. National Hockey League, et al. (Civil Case No. 13-CV-1856-KBJ) to include four former NHL players.
The complaint alleges that the League failed to adequately respond to the serious health risks posed by concussions and other head injuries incurred while playing in league games.
The new plaintiffs include three-time All-Star center Bernie Nicholls, former Sports Illustrated “Sportsman of the Year” Bob Bourne, famed “enforcer” Scott Parker, and former All-Rookie defenseman Bruce Bell.
Nicholls played a total of 1,245 games between 1981 and 1999 for the Los Angeles Kings, New York Rangers, Edmonton Oilers, New Jersey Devils, Chicago Blackhawks, and San Jose Sharks. An All-Star in 1984, 1989, and 1990, he is one of only five players to ever score at least 150 points in a season (along with Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Steve Yzerman, and Phil Esposito). He is also one of only eight players in the NHL to score at least 70 goals in a season — a feat that remains a team record for the Los Angeles Kings, for which Nicholls is the fifth all-time leading scorer.
Bob Bourne played the bulk of his 1,103 total games with the New York Islanders, where he won the Stanley Cup four consecutive times between 1980 and 1983 and is a member of the team Hall of Fame. In 1987, Bourne was named a “Sportsman of the Year” by Sports Illustrated, and, at the conclusion of the 1987-1988 season, he won the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy, awarded to him by the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association for his dedication to the game and perseverance during an NHL career that began in 1974.
Also publicly joining the suit are Scott Parker, who won the Stanley Cup in 2001 with the Colorado Avalanche and was nicknamed “The Sheriff” for his reputation as a ruthless fighter, and Bruce Bell, an All-Rookie defenseman whose career was cut short after a body-check by Wendel Clark.
The amended complaint was filed by the Baltimore law firm Silverman Thompson Slutkin White.
