The NHL is asking a civil claims court to dismiss a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the father of former NHLer Steve Montador. Montador was found dead in his home in Mississauga, Ontario on February 15th of 2015.
According to documents filed in court by his family, Montador had 19 documented concussions and was repeatedly cleared to return to the NHL by team doctors, even after four concussions in 12 weeks in 2012. Following his death, he was diagnosed with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a degenerative brain condition that doctors have noted is caused by concussions. The diagnosis was the reason his family filed the suit.
The NHL's position in this case has remained the same as it is in all other similar cases. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman has insisted there's no proven link between repeated brain trauma and neurological disorders, and that is the reason the NHL is asking for the lawsuit to be dismissed. Lawyers for the Montador family have until February 12th to respond to the league's position.
Following Montador's death in 2015, his brother Chris stated he "either just either stopped breathing or his heart went." Both Chris and former NHLer Dan Carcillo, who considers Montador to be a mentor and major positive influence on his career, noted a change in his behaviour due to what they felt was his deteriorating mental health. Montador spoke openly of the depression he suffered following his concussion issues in Chicago and, according to his brother Chris, had spent a great deal of time researching the effects of head injuries. Chris noted that both he and his brother had suffered concussions as children, and that Steve had promised to donate his brain to medical researchers studying brain issues. It was through that donation that his CTE was discovered.
Montador was never drafted. His began his professional career in the AHL after signing as a free agent with the Calgary Flames in 2000. He would go on to play 571 NHL games over the next 10 seasons, racking up 807 PIM, many of them for fighting. Besides Calgary, he also played for Florida, Anahiem, Boston and Buffalo. He played his final season in the NHL with Chicago in 2011-12, while spending the entire 2012-13 season with the Rockford IceHogs of the AHL. The next year, he played 11 games with Medvecsak Zagreb, a KHL club based in Crotia, before retiring from professional hockey. The club now plays in the EBEL based in Austria. His death in 2015 came just four days before his girlfriend gave birth to their son.
Steve Montador had 19 documented concussions & was repeatedly cleared to return to the NHL by team doctors after 4 concussions in 12 weeks in 2012, his family says.
(The NHL in its motion material discusses issues including labour law but does not address Steve's medical care.)— Rick Westhead (@rwesthead) January 15, 2020
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman's stance remains resolute. He insists there's no proven link between repeated brain trauma and neurological disorders.
As Ken Dryden wrote in the NY Times last year, "Legacies are tricky things. Bettman's full legacy is still to be written."— Rick Westhead (@rwesthead) January 15, 2020
