Editorial, Opinion

EDITORIAL: NHL has no right to BU’s research

We’ve all cringed watching a football player get tackled to the ground or when a hockey player gets pushed into the boards, only to see them shake it off and enter the game once more. Every once in a while, the player can’t continue and needs to be helped from the field or rink. We’re all aware that physical sports like this can be dangerous for players, but sports are so integral to our society that there isn’t a lot of focus on the aftermath. Now, the National Hockey League is facing serious allegations from former players that playing professional hockey has been extremely harmful to their health.

The NHL requested research conducted by Boston University scientists regarding the connection between concussions from playing hockey and chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or C.T.E., according to an article from The New York Times. The NHL asked BU for their unpublished data. The university denied the request, so the league has filed legal documents to gain access to the information.

The NHL has been interested in any information regarding CTE because of a class-action lawsuit by many former players against the league for supposedly hiding the dangers of playing professional hockey, specifically regarding brain trauma, according to the article.

The NHL does not have grounds to request this information. They’re not funding BU’s research and have no involvement in it other than the desire to be informed on the CTE findings. There is no justification for the league to gain all of the information associated with this case, especially when the donors to BU’s research requested anonymity before participating in the study. The league would have an avenue to these player’s medical records and interview their family conducted with researchers, which seems as an incredible invasion of privacy. The NHL wants to have all available information in order to combat the lawsuits of negligence by their players, but this research is incomplete. Their actions are completely self-motivated and extremely unwarranted.

Boston University has every right to deny the league’s request for their research. Not only is the research incomplete, but this would halt the university’s research for months. Why should they release this information before the results are conclusive? Why would the NHL even want their findings if they are still in the middle of their study? BU should not feel compelled to hand over this information. By doing so, they’d be risking the full and correct results of their research, as well as publicizing private information of those who donated their brains to science.

It seems that the NHL only wants this information to interrupt the progress of BU’s researchers. They want to have this information, though incomplete, so they will know what scientific research they’ll be up against in their impending lawsuit. The league doesn’t want BU to reach the conclusion that there is a significant correlation between concussions in hockey players and CTE. This would be detrimental to their industry and discredit all statements that hockey is a relatively safe sport.

When the NFL went through this battle for themselves, they lost $1 billion in a settlement. For an industry worth almost $75 billion, that price was doable. For the NHL, worth $4 million, that would cost money they don’t have. It would be extremely damaging to hockey and create setbacks with unforeseeable effects. By requesting this information from BU, the NHL is impeding on their research and pausing their study from making a concrete association between the two. When BU finishes conducting their research, then the league will have the opportunity to read over their findings, not before it is final.

Though they’re going to incredible measures to stop this research, the NHL is fighting a losing battle. Science is science. And if it proves injuries that players receive in professional hockey games can lead to C.T.E., the league will have to admit that their sport can be dangerous for players. We’ve watched the NFL fight this battle against science for years and lose. The conclusion is almost undeniable sports-related injuries are prevalent, and it lead to serious health issues for players down the road. The NHL’s efforts to see this research before it is published is understandable considering the claims against them, but this is a battle they will inevitably lose. The league, and all others like it, should spend more energy and resources on preventing these injuries in the first place.

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One Comment

  1. Excellent article explaining a complex issue in the game I love. As in other professions, safety should always come before profits. Its time to invest in increased player safety instead of trying to wiggle out of obligations to past employees by denying and covering up the past. Even though ignorance can be excusable for past mistakes it is a waste of resources, finances and an insult to players and fans to continue with the Ostrich Defense — head in sand, nothing happened. Let scientific facts speak the truth and the act accordingly in a humane fashion to make it right.