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Originally Posted by dirk diggler
does it really surprise anyone that the NHLPA doesn't appear to care once you are out of the game? once you aren't a due paying member, it appears you are sadly forgot about.... very sad story. Montador seemed like a decent guy.
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I argue that the NHLPA doesn't care about you when you're in the game as well, otherwise they wouldn't be such a massive roadblock when it came to supplemental discipline and injuries amongst it's ranks.
Full Disclosure: I haven't watched the video. I am sure it is extremely sad. However, the first question that comes to mind is: Would a guy like Montador still be playing if the league and the PA took more responsibility for disciplining guys who flagrantly violate the rules and contribute to early losses of athletic ability through concussions and other injuries? Guys like Carcillo?
Sounds like Montador couldn't keep up any longer after being slowed down by injuries, and it seems like the straw to break the camels back was a head injury which likely lead to depression.
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"Steve was still struggling with the aftermath of a lot of post-concussive symptoms and I think he was very concerned about what may lie around the corner as he aged and the concussions caught up with him," Gibbs said in an interview.
"He was a guy who really cared about his brothers, the guys he played with, and I don't use that term loosely. I think he felt strongly that it was important for everybody to start advancing the conversation about what happens to guys after their hockey careers and what happens to their brains."
Montador, who was expecting to become a father in about a month, was among more than 200 players who are said to be involved in litigation against the NHL relating to concussions.
Montador joined the lawsuit about a month ago, said Gibbs, who also is representing the family of Derek Boogaard.
Boogaard, who was recovering from a concussion, died of an accidental overdose in May 2011. His family has filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against the NHL, blaming the league for brain damage Boogaard suffered playing the game and for his addiction to prescription painkillers.
The NHL has claimed in legal pleadings that former players who are suing the league over how it handled concussions and head trauma injuries ought to have been able to "put two and two together," thanks to newspaper and magazine stories and other news reports.
Lawyers for players including Joe Murphy, Bernie Nichols and Gary Leeman rubbish the NHL's claims, saying players had "no knowledge of the medical literature, and no understanding of any need to go find it because they relied on the NHL for information about player health and safety."
The players, whose claims have not been proven, allege that the NHL did not do enough to protect them from head injuries before it created a committee to study head trauma in 1997. Even after that, the players charge the committee's findings were not adequately shared with players.
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It's high-time the NHLPA is held responsible for the actions of their members.
