In a speech to the University Club of New York, NHL legend Ken Dryden called out NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman for not doing enough to prevent brain injuries in the league. In a transcript printed in the Toronto Sun, the Hall-of-Famer-turned-politician says "the problem of brain injuries in sports is now beyond doubt. The public knows it. Scientists don't have the technology to see the evidence of it in living brains, but they and everyone can see it in all the other evidence around them — in memory loss, depression, loss of cognitive function, mood swings, anger and abuse. It is unmissable, undeniable, for anyone not wanting to miss or deny."
In his speech, Dryden talks about how he has known Bettman for 20 years, how Bettman loves the sport of hockey and of how driven Bettman is to know more about the sport than anyone else in the room. Here are some excerpts from his very powerful speech:
"But, instead, he used his considerable intelligence to play “clever lawyer” — show me how this hit in this game led to this memory loss, this CTE, this dementia, and death. Connect the dots, everyone, and if you can't — no causation, no case. Able to know more than anyone else in the room, Bettman chose not to know the more there is to know, and instead shrank the room.""All this would be sad, if it weren't tragic. Sad because Gary Bettman has done many good things for the NHL. Sad because he has in him the ability, authority and trust to do what needs to be done. Sad because, unlike football, it wouldn't take much to make hockey just as exciting to play and watch, and much less damaging. Tragic, because too many players with lots of money and opportunity retire to life-diminished lives."
"In hockey, just last week, Stan Mikita. A Hall of Famer. I played against him. He was one of the first, and maybe the first star, to wear a helmet. He died at 78. People die at 78. The last many years of his life, he suffered from a form of dementia. That happens. Last Friday, it was announced he had CTE. Not a goon. A four-time scoring champion. There will be a next player and a next and a next. From the past. From the present. What about from the future?
Two years ago, Gary Bettman and I had a nice lunch. It went on for two hours. Whatever once he could say he didn't know, he has to know now.
For Gary Bettman, the next two years will get harder.
Source: Toronto Sun
