Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community - View Single Post - Montador's family sues NHL. Claims fighting leads to depression & addiciton

ThisIsAnOutrage · 12-09-2015, 06:35 PM

Let’s humanize the issues a bit here.

The lawsuit is being brought by Montador’s parents, not him. The idea that “he knew the risks” doesn’t squarely apply; “he” is dead. The grieving family has acted on their son’s death. The lawsuit is not ridiculous or a technicality, it’s human. Montador was human, as are all the players that have ever been in the NHL. And on the others side, the NHL knew the risks too, not necessarily the precise risks of multiple head traumas, CTE, or repeated concussions, but the risk of being sued. A business dealing with enough people, for enough time, will eventually sue and be sued rightly or wrongly, because it’s all run by people in the end, from top to bottom. Pieces of paper establishing leagues, teams, unions, pa’s and corporations make no decisions.

The law and lawsuits are there to solve people-created issues when the people involved cannot do so among themselves. That we allow and want physical play in hockey that causes such injury is the people-created problem we need to solve. The league is the only body that has power to make sweeping changes but hasn’t, so there is a lawsuit that may result in change toward that goal, or not.

The ideal outcome is that we get both: physical hockey and no trauma. If we can’t get it, we have to settle for deciding where to draw the line, likely to the full satisfaction of no one.

On where the line is? My 2c is fighting as it currently exists in the NHL. It’s not really comparable to boxing or MMA at all. In those sports you have set dates, times, places, tight weight classes, training time, and most importantly a sanctioning body; if you’re not fit to fight, you can’t fight. On par with fighting in terms of what needs to change I would put any hit to the head. I think of a guy like Gaudreau: fantastic player, much shorter than the league average. His head is regularly at shoulder or elbow height. I think hits to the head should be enforced the same as high-sticking. It doesn’t matter if a player meant to or not there’s a positive obligation on the player to avoid hitting another player in the head at all times. Any Flames fans feel like it’s okay if Gaudreau winds up like Montador because he “knew the risks”?

12-09-2015, 06:35 PM	#136
ThisIsAnOutrage Lifetime Suspension Join Date: Dec 2014 Exp:	Let’s humanize the issues a bit here. The lawsuit is being brought by Montador’s parents, not him. The idea that “he knew the risks” doesn’t squarely apply; “he” is dead. The grieving family has acted on their son’s death. The lawsuit is not ridiculous or a technicality, it’s human. Montador was human, as are all the players that have ever been in the NHL. And on the others side, the NHL knew the risks too, not necessarily the precise risks of multiple head traumas, CTE, or repeated concussions, but the risk of being sued. A business dealing with enough people, for enough time, will eventually sue and be sued rightly or wrongly, because it’s all run by people in the end, from top to bottom. Pieces of paper establishing leagues, teams, unions, pa’s and corporations make no decisions. The law and lawsuits are there to solve people-created issues when the people involved cannot do so among themselves. That we allow and want physical play in hockey that causes such injury is the people-created problem we need to solve. The league is the only body that has power to make sweeping changes but hasn’t, so there is a lawsuit that may result in change toward that goal, or not. The ideal outcome is that we get both: physical hockey and no trauma. If we can’t get it, we have to settle for deciding where to draw the line, likely to the full satisfaction of no one. On where the line is? My 2c is fighting as it currently exists in the NHL. It’s not really comparable to boxing or MMA at all. In those sports you have set dates, times, places, tight weight classes, training time, and most importantly a sanctioning body; if you’re not fit to fight, you can’t fight. On par with fighting in terms of what needs to change I would put any hit to the head. I think of a guy like Gaudreau: fantastic player, much shorter than the league average. His head is regularly at shoulder or elbow height. I think hits to the head should be enforced the same as high-sticking. It doesn’t matter if a player meant to or not there’s a positive obligation on the player to avoid hitting another player in the head at all times. Any Flames fans feel like it’s okay if Gaudreau winds up like Montador because he “knew the risks”?