The new and improved concussion thread II - Hockey Hall of Famer Henri Richard had stage 3 CTE at time of death, study finds

[Fenway]

Joe Murphy, Red Wings' No. 1 pick, is homeless again and refusing help

KENORA, Ontario – Joe Murphy wanders outside in a steady rain, eventually finding a place to sleep for the night in the doorway of a small restaurant.

His black tennis shoes are soaking wet and the bottom of his feet have pruned and turned bright white.
Murphy, selected by the Detroit Red Wings with the No. 1 overall pick in 1986, earned more than $13 million while playing 15 seasons in the NHL, but he is homeless again, just like last year. He doesn’t own socks, so he rips a T-shirt into strips and wraps them around his ankles.

“These are my socks right now,” Murphy says. “My feet have gone all white. Freakin’ nasty. I don’t need to remove my toes, I don’t think. But it’s going to be stinging and nasty, right?”

Dozens of people have tried to get Murphy off the streets of this small tourist town the past two years, including the NHL Alumni Association, members of the local police department, former teammates, his lawyer and an entire team of mental health experts and social workers. He refuses almost all of it.

Murphy stayed in an extended-stay motel paid by the NHL Alumni Association for several months last winter but moved out, although he can’t offer a coherent reason. He spent time at a hospital in Thunder Bay, Ontario, on the banks of Lake Superior, for a court-ordered mental-health evaluation. But he’s back in Kenora. He slept in a tent but he says it ripped. And now, he is back sleeping on benches, in doorways, inside a tunnel and under a gas station sign at the edge of this town of about 15,000, about 340 miles north of Minneapolis.

Continued from

The new and improved concussion thread

Click to read more...

 

[Llama19]

In related news...

NFL Hall of Fame linebacker who pledged to donate brain for CTE research dies at 78

To quote:

"In recent years, [Miami Dolphins Nick] Buoniconti struggled with symptoms of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a degenerative brain disease associated with repeated blows to the head. He had recently battled pneumonia, Dolphins Senior Vice President Nat Moore said.

In 2017, he pledged to donate his brain to CTE research after he was diagnosed with dementia. The research is part of a collaboration between the Concussion Legacy Foundation, Boston University CTE Center and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs."

Source: www.wtae.com/article/nfl-hall-of-fame-linebacker-who-pledged-to-donate-brain-for-cte-research-dies-at-78/28566804

 

[tony d]

Sad news all around, thinking of both at this time.

 

[Llama19]

Ewen trial against NHL to take three weeks with more than 20 witnesses

To quote:

"A trial in the wrongful death lawsuit against the National Hockey League filed by Kelli Ewen, the widow of former NHL enforcer Todd Ewen, will take about three weeks and is expected to feature more than 20 witnesses, according to newly filed court documents.

According to the statement, key witnesses in the case will include Boston University neuropathologist Dr. Ann McKee, who has discovered the brain-withering disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, in former NHL players including Todd; NHL personnel, including commissioner Gary Bettman; and NHL team personnel who witnessed relevant information regarding Todd’s head injuries during his time in the NHL."

Source: www.tsn.ca/ewen-trial-against-nhl-to-take-three-weeks-with-more-than-20-witnesses-1.1348920

 

[LadyStanley]

Couture is "All-in For Brain Research"

Logan Couture raising $$ for head health/concussions education, research

 

[LadyStanley]

2019 NHL/NHLPA concussion education video fact sheet

Video and information. Former and current players. Medical staff

Nice to see the NHL making this public too.

 

[Llama19]

“I don't believe there has been anything, based on everything I've been told, and if anybody has any information to the contrary we'd be happy to hear it, other than some anecdotal evidence, there has not been that conclusive link,” said @Nhl's Gary Bettman on concussions & CTE

 

[Tommy Hawk]

This has got to make you wonder why Football, Hockey, and Boxing athletes have higher incident of CTE than baseball, basketball, golf, swimming, and track if there is no link. If there is no link there would be no difference between them yet there is a difference.

 

[LadyStanley]

‘Miracle on Ice’ hockey player arrested for assault; family suspects CTE

A member of the 1980 Miracle on Ice hockey team remains in a Minnesota jail, accused of beating a neighbor in an alleged attack that his sister linked to possible chronic traumatic encephalopathy.

Mark Pavelich, 61, faces charges of second- and third-degree assault, possession of an illegal shotgun and possession of a gun with a missing serial number after he attacked his neighbor with a 3- to 4-foot metal pole. He remains held in lieu of $250,000 in the Cook County jail in northern Minnesota, and a hearing to determine his mental competence was ordered by District Court Judge Michael Cuzzo in a hearing Monday.
...
Pavelich spent seven seasons in the NHL with the New York Rangers, Minnesota North Stars and San Jose Sharks.

Sad. Hoping he gets whatever help he needs.

 

[LadyStanley]

Fallen Leafs: Did hockey kill Dan Maloney and Greg Terrion?

Paywall. Both players were hard hitting bruisers in their careers, and suffered from mental before their deaths.

 

[Fenway]

oof

https://www.tsn.ca/hockey-hall-of-famer-stan-mikita-suffered-from-cte-researcher-says-1.1365391

Former Chicago Blackhawks legend and Hockey Hall of Fame member Stan Mikita tested positive for chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, the brain-withering disease linked to repetitive brain trauma in contact sports, researchers and his family announced Friday night in Chicago.

Mikita becomes the 11th known former NHL player, and the first member of the Hall of Fame, to have tested positive for CTE.

Dr. Ann McKee, director of the BU CTE Center, VA-BU-CLF Brain Bank, and chief of neuropathology for the VA Boston Healthcare System, discussed the findings Friday night as requested by Mikita's family during the Concussion Legacy Foundation's Chicago Honors dinner.

"Stan Mikita was diagnosed with [two] neurodegenerative diseases that our research has shown are associated with a long career in contact sports such as ice hockey: CTE and Lewy Body Disease," said Dr. McKee.

 

[Llama19]

oof

https://www.tsn.ca/hockey-hall-of-famer-stan-mikita-suffered-from-cte-researcher-says-1.1365391

Former Chicago Blackhawks legend and Hockey Hall of Fame member Stan Mikita tested positive for chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, the brain-withering disease linked to repetitive brain trauma in contact sports, researchers and his family announced Friday night in Chicago.

Mikita becomes the 11th known former NHL player, and the first member of the Hall of Fame, to have tested positive for CTE.

Dr. Ann McKee, director of the BU CTE Center, VA-BU-CLF Brain Bank, and chief of neuropathology for the VA Boston Healthcare System, discussed the findings Friday night as requested by Mikita's family during the Concussion Legacy Foundation's Chicago Honors dinner.

"Stan Mikita was diagnosed with [two] neurodegenerative diseases that our research has shown are associated with a long career in contact sports such as ice hockey: CTE and Lewy Body Disease," said Dr. McKee.

Yet Bettman said this...apparently with a straight face...on May 1, 2019:

“I don't believe there has been anything, based on everything I've been told, and if anybody has any information to the contrary we'd be happy to hear it, other than some anecdotal evidence, there has not been that conclusive link,” said @Nhl's Gary Bettman on concussions & CTE

 

[TheWhiskeyThief]

I can guarantee you that everybody who has played a contact sport will have signs of CTE when they get their brain analyzed post mortem.

The question they still can’t answer is why are some people affected more than others? Is there a genetic component, considering the anecdotal evidence of concussion histories running in families?

 

[Llama19]

DRYDEN: It's high time NHL commissioner Gary Bettman acts to prevent brain injuries in hockey

torontosun.com/sports/hockey/nhl/ken-dryden-its-high-time-nhl-commissioner-gary-bettman-acts-to-prevent-brain-injuries-in-hockey

 

[tarheelhockey]

I can guarantee you that everybody who has played a contact sport will have signs of CTE when they get their brain analyzed post mortem.

Depends on what you mean by that. CTE is a disease, you either have it or you don't. It's hard to imagine that they're just missing it in 2/3rds of cases.

I do think there's a good chance that better-refined testing will reveal previously unseen factors which precede CTE, like a previously undescribed form of neuron damage or something.

 

[Llama19]

 

[LadyStanley]

NHL Gets Concussion Cases of Two Canadian Ex-Players Dismissed

Paywall. (Can't find free version, don't know full story)

Lawsuits (filed in Minnesota) by Todd Harvey and Andre Deveaux dismissed. "NHL can't be sued in Minnesota" by those players seems to be the rationale.

Perhaps more from TSN/SN coming.

 

[Llama19]

Brains of university-level concussed athletes were physiologically different over one year post-injury: study

To quote:

"According to research published in the Oct. 16, 2019, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology, the course of recovery was not complete even after the athletes’ symptoms and cognitive functions returned to normal.

Researchers conducted MRI scans of the brains of 24 athletes from University of Toronto teams in sports including football, hockey, rugby and soccer following a concussion diagnosis. They also scanned a large group of 122 matched athletic controls. All athletes in the study had been assessed for baseline cognitive function prior to their respective athletic seasons and concussed athletes were re-assessed at return to play and again one year after returning to play.

While brain activity appeared to have returned to normal at a year post-return to play, researchers continued to see white matter effects and new changes in blood flow. These findings shed new light on long-term brain changes after concussion, further challenging the idea of concussion as a temporary disturbance."

Source: stmichaelshospital.com/media/detail.php?source=hospital_news/2019/1016

Research Study Paper: n.neurology.org/content/early/2019/10/16/WNL.0000000000008523

 

[Noldo]

Rugby has its issues with concussions and now they are trying new equipment as a way to monitor impact of the hits

Smart gumshields are monitoring rugby concussions | WIRED UK

 

[LadyStanley]

CBD improves life again.

 

[cbcwpg]

Mark Pavelich, ‘Miracle on Ice’ player, ruled incompetent to stand trial for assault

Pavelich, 61, is accused of attacking a longtime friend with a metal pole, behavior his family maintains is because he has CTE, a degenerative neurological disorder that has been linked to erratic, sometimes violent behavior and suicides among, most notably, hockey and football player

 

[Llama19]

 

[Llama19]

 

[Llama19]

 

[Llama19]

Pain, agony and 'years of duress': How hockey wives are fighting back over players' chronic brain injuries

Source: www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hockey-players-enforcers-brain-injuries-1.5370444