The game of hockey, like society in general, is changing!
We are at a point in society where we must continuously strive to express ourselves in a politically correct manner, never disagree with the masses and conform to what is now deemed acceptable in the public eye. Those who have a point of view which differs from the norm are often ostracized or viewed as radical.
This is by no means a forum for me to express my political views. I mention this only because of the omnipresent issue which continues to plague the NHL: head shots.
Society, like the game of hockey, is changing, yet those who govern this change in the NHL appear to be doing everything in their power to make sure it remains “pure”.
These hockey purists, as they have come to be known, frown upon any and all change and will generally denounce anyone or anything that may in fact lead to change, after all “if it ain’t broke then don’t fix it”.
Now, I can understand a willingness to want to get rid of the Instigator Rule or a refusal to remove fighting altogether. Yet, when it comes to player safety, it is paramount to worry about the prevalence of head shots, depression, alcoholism and suicide.
There are those, most recently Chris Nilan and Don Cherry, who argue that the above subjects have absolutely no correlation to one another.
Unfortunately, both of these individuals have expressed an opinion based on personal experience instead of examining trends, research and studies.
Let me now say that I am a tremendous admirer of Chris Nilan for what he brought to the Montreal Canadiens. My respect for him, however, is not linked to what he did on the ice but what he did off of it. His numerous charitable endeavors for the Montreal community and the personal battles that he continues to fight are worthy of admiration. However, my respect for Nilan however will not mask the fact that he is wrong.
Nilan personally believes that there is no relationship between the role of the fighter, alcoholism, drug abuse and, ultimately, suicide. With this simple argument I can say that, yes Mr. Nilan, you are correct. You cannot scientifically prove that being a fighter in the NHL leads to depression or, in other cases, suicide. Nonetheless, you can without a doubt prove a correlation between the two.
Like anything in life your personal traits will often dictate your decisions. Why is it that some people can smoke Marijuana once or twice and be done with it, while others smoke it once and get hooked? Why is it that I can have just one drink after work whereas as some make the 5 a 7 a habitual task?
The answer: personally traits.
Whether we blame it on our upbringing, the extraneous social factors which were present during our development stages, or simply our genetic make up, the fact is that we are all different in very subtle ways. Those differences help dictate what we are, what we do, what we become and what defines us.
It is therefore extremely convenient and easy to blame the recent deaths of Rick Rypien, Wade Belak and Derek Boogaard on personal choice. After all, who are we to argue that they suffered from substance abuse or took their lives for reasons other than hockey?
Go ahead and blame society, blame their social upbringing, or anything else you can think of other than hockey. Yes, each enforcer is different. Some simply like to fight, some are lead to the role because they are good at it, some use it as a means to play profesionally and some likely just want the attention. Regardless of the reason behind this choice, the fact remains that being an NHL enforcer has certainly contributed to their passing.
It is a bold statement to make I realize, but before passing judgement look at the facts.
The Numbers Don’t Lie
I think that things get a little confusing when people make statements claiming outright that effect X causes Z, that there is a causal relation between being an enforcer or a hockey player and depression, substance abuse and suicide.
When you can count the number of suicides or attempted suicides on one hand in comparison to the amount of players who have played professional hockey then the correlation is irrelevant.
What is not considered, however, is that there is a missing variable within this correlation: traumatic brain injuries more commonly known as concussions.
Again, for the record there is absolutely, no way to prove that the role of the fighter leads to suicidal tendencies, however you can prove that traumatic brain injuries can and often do lead to suicide.
Concussions are such a grey area because there still so much we do not know. It is unknown as to why some people report symptoms for many months if not years whereas some feel the effects for less than 24 hours. Honestly, the brain is a mystery. What is not a mystery, though, is that the reported effects of concussions bear a strong resemblance.
I am not going to bore you with the in and out details of different pieces of research. There have been hundreds of studies connecting hockey, football and other contact sports with concussions. Moreover, some even theorize that playing hockey leads to brain damage, premature death or suicide. Heck, I bet if I looked deeper some might even find a link to the disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa.
Regardless of the findings and theories, there are certain constants that emerge.
First, the human brain is not fully developed until you are in your mid-20’s, therefore any damage prior to full development increases the risk of permanent long term issues.
Second, when surveyed and studied, victims of concussions tend to always express the same re-occurring symptoms: anger, frustration, dizziness, nausea, confusion, anxiety, biochemical disturbance, brain damage (whether slight or severe), depression and Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE).
It is important to note however that although the symptoms are consistently reported, not all victims express the exact same symptoms. In other words, although depression or suicidal tendencies are consistent symptoms, they are not reported in all cases.
Third, there is evidence that, although not all concussions are problematic, experiencing multiple concussions can have a profound and compounding effect. The more concussions that are experienced the greater the risk for CTE, permanent brain damage and clinical depression.
Now this does not, by any means, prove a causal effect between fighting and depression, substance abuse and depression. Still, we must consider the following.
There is overwhelming evidence thar demonstrates concussions have a negative effect on reasoning, judgement and cognitive abilities. There are consistent reports of re-occuring symptoms of anxiety, depression, suicidal tendencies and CTE among concussion victims.
Ultimately, it is not known why one individual would ultimately chose to end his or her life when another individual would seek help to conquer those demons.
Regardless, is it not a safe assumption to say, that although it is difficult to prove a causal effect between the role of the enforcer and suicide, there is evidence which proves at the very least a strong and overwhelming correlation between the two?
Here you have a number of young men who battle to get to the NHL by fighting, by repeatedly being hit in the head, who report concussion like symptoms and who ultimately have taken their lives. It’s not rocket science there folks.
If these three deaths send a message, let it be that of change. Let us convince the hockey purists that yes we all like to see a bone crushing hit or a spur of the moment fight but that pointless headshots from the blindside on an unsuspecting player or the staged fights between two players who play three minutes a game are absolutely pointless and outright dangerous.
Let us learn something and not be afraid to emerge from the shadows, to be politically incorrect and just acknowledge this problem now and forever.
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Bryan is a Marketer by day, writer for HabsAddict.com by night and full time fan of the game. Follow me on twitter @BryanWilley78 but don't bother looking for me on Facebook, I'm just too old for that now!
(Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images North America)
