The damage hockey did to my brain

Ihad a pretty spectacular 17-year career playing in the National Hockey League. Who would have thought a kid from a small town in Canada would have 475 career goals in 1,127 games? Yet despite these great seasons, as I look back on my career 36 years after it began, I have come to realize that the NHL, although satisfying and enjoyable at the time, led to permanent brain damage and has irreparably damaged my health.

Getting the call to play in the NHL was a pivotal moment in my life. I am from a small town in Ontario, one of no more than 100 people. While we only have one garage, one store, one laundromat and one restaurant, we have a lot of hockey. And when I heard I was going to the Los Angeles Kings, it felt like I was going from the smallest place in the world to the biggest city. And although it was a culture shock at first, the move allowed me to play the sport at a higher level than I ever imagined.

However, the dream I was living after getting drafted quickly turned to reality as I began to understand the rigors, and consequences, of playing in the NHL. On one hand, my hockey career was thriving, and I had the opportunity to play alongside legends like Wayne Gretzky, and in places from the West Coast to New York, New Jersey, Chicago and Edmonton.

But at the very same time, I was taking serious and severe hits to the head, many of which were concussions that teams and the league ignored and failed to document.

Some of these hits would leave me woozy, some dizzy; others felt more severe. Instead of examining me for possible brain damage, trainers and coaches demanded to know when I could go back in to play.

When I broke a bone or sprained a muscle, I always knew exactly how I was going to feel afterwards. But when I got a blow to the head, I never had anyone tell me that if I continued to play, I might sustain permanent brain damage.

If the NHL had told me about the risks of continued head trauma, I would have never gone back onto the ice as quickly as I usually did. When I joined the NHL, I knew I would be injured, but at the end of the day, I did not expect to have problems, that would last a lifetime.

The NHL did not just wake up recently and say, “these guys are going to have long-term problems.” They knew then — they had to — and didn’t do anything about it. They never even told us what the long-term costs of these hard hits might be, and how our lives might be altered forever.

Today, I have a hard time remembering games I played in and even the names of people I played with for many years. Though my concussions took place 20 and 30 years ago, I still get extremely dizzy and am plagued by headaches. Since becoming involved in NHL alumni groups, I have seen firsthand how many other players also have memory and anger issues.

The NHL is a brotherhood; we protected each other on and off the ice. I joined the NHL concussion lawsuit for myself and for those who I know are hurting even more than I am. I have encouraged all those I played with and against to support this effort — if not for yourself, for your former teammates who protected you.

I had a tremendous hockey career, but it was extremely detrimental to my health and mental well-being. Ultimately, the league only seemed to care about marketing and promoting the game, and the hard hits we all took fueled the game’s success and tremendous growth it is experiencing today.

It’s long past time for the NHL to come to terms with its past, care for its alumni and ensure the game is safe and prosperous for years to come.

The NHL was wonderful for my career, but terrible for my health