The family of former Blackhawks defenseman Steve Montador filed a lawsuit against the NHL claiming that the league failed to protect and properly educate Montador on the long-term effects of repeated head trauma, which led to Montador’s depression, substance abuse, and eventual death in February at the age of 35.
The suit claims that Montador experienced significant memory loss, sleep loss, pain, and behavioral changes — eventually slipping into substance abuse — as a result of the chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) that developed after 69 fights, 15 concussions, and “thousands of sub-concussive brain traumas” during his 571-game NHL career. The suit claims that Montador suffered four concussions in a three-month period during his one season with the Blackhawks in 2012, his final season in the NHL.
After briefly returning to Hawks practices in March of 2013, Montador spoke candidly about his depression, which he called a physical symptom of his concussions. He went on to play 14 games for the Rockford IceHogs of the American Hockey League, then played 11 games in Russia the following season before retiring. He died on Feb. 15 of this year.
“The NHL continues to ignore the lasting problems caused by multiple head traumas suffered by its players,” Paul Montador said in a statement to TSN. “Tragedies like that of my son, Steven, will continue until the problem is addressed. The NHL knows, but denies, that years of repeated head injuries cause long-term brain problems.”
It’s the latest lawsuit against the league alleging it put players at risk by cultivating and promoting a culture of violence and risk. More than 100 former players have joined forces to file a similar suit.
NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly declined to comment on the Montador lawsuit, and the Hawks deferred to the league.
“No, we don’t have any response,” Daly said through a league spokesman. “We will stand by our previous comments on the same substance.”
While in Chicago during the Western Conference final last spring, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman dismissed the idea that hockey leads to CTE.
“From a medical science standpoint, there is no evidence yet that one necessarily leads to the other,” Bettman said, drawing sharp criticism from much of the hockey world. “I know there are a lot of theories, but if you ask people who study it, they tell you there is no statistical correlation that can definitively make that conclusion.”
The lawsuit disagrees, saying the league has long known the long-term effects of repeated head trauma through on-ice checks and fights, yet vigorously promoted both, essentially putting profits and entertainment ahead of player safety.
“The League knew, or should have known, that [Montador] would understand the NHL’s silence as affirmation that he not only could, but should, play in a violent manner and continue to play after a head injury, and that doing so posed no danger to his long-term brain health,” the lawsuit said. “The League induced him into continuing to play, and fight, in NHL games and practices.”
The lawsuit said the league “owed a duty” to Montador “to keep him reasonably safe during his career, and to provide him with the most up-to-date medical information on all issues, including the increased risk of long-term brain damage.” It also said “the NHL has long known that its players were susceptible to developing CTE and other neurodegenerative brain diseases as a result of the fist-fighting it allowed and promoted, the hard hits it encouraged and marketed, and/or the blows to the head that it steadfastly refused to eliminate from its game.”
Email: mlazerus@suntimes.com
Twitter: @marklazerus
