[sureLoss]

http://www.tsn.ca/westhead-nhl-says-...ether-1.140203

After a group of former National Hockey League players went to court and sued the league over how it had handled concussions and head trauma, the league has filed its first significant response to the litigation.
In the initial lawsuit, filed in November 2013, players contended that the NHL did not do enough to protect them from head injuries before creating a committee to study head trauma in 1997. Even after that, the players charge the committee's findings were not adequately shared with players.
The NHL is firing back in a set of legal documents filed in federal court in Minnesota.

The league says that players who were forced to retire early because of concussions and other head injuries ought to have been able to "put two and two together," thanks to a number of newspaper and magazine stories and other news reports.

"Publicly available information related to concussions and their long-term effects, coupled with the events that had transpired – i.e., the players incurring head injuries – should have allowed (players) to put two and two together," the NHL says in its court filings, which were obtained by TSN.
The league also says it should not be required to pay for medical monitoring of former players who say they have symptoms of long-term brain injuries.

"The alleged injuries that form the basis for this suit occurred many years - and even decades – ago," the NHL's motion to dismiss says. "There is no allegation that plaintiffs were not aware of those injuries when they occurred; nor could there be in light of the fact that a physical blow to the head is the opposite of a latent injury."