Evidence of meeting #5 for Subcommittee on Sports-Related Concussions in Canada in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was going.
A video is available from Parliament.
6 p.m.
Charleswood—St. James—Assiniboia—Headingley, Lib.
Although there are penalties when they do it, it's common to say, “Yeah, I got in my first fight.”
6:05 p.m.
Charleswood—St. James—Assiniboia—Headingley, Lib.
They're encouraged by this behaviour, even if—
6:05 p.m.
As an Individual
You're not going to change it, though. I don't think you're going to change it.
6:05 p.m.
As an Individual
I don't know.
I think the way to change it, if you're going to have any effect on it, is through the minor system, as we talked about, working its way up so that the players who are coming through—as peewees, bantams, midgets and juniors—have grown up in surroundings where it just wasn't there. The fighting wasn't occurring. When that goes on further, it will pretty much die out.
If you look at fighting rates over the past five or 10 years, you'll see they've declined dramatically.
6:05 p.m.
Charleswood—St. James—Assiniboia—Headingley, Lib.
But why couldn't a professional hockey league put in the same rules as the OHL?
6:05 p.m.
Charleswood—St. James—Assiniboia—Headingley, Lib.
Is there any moral reason for tolerating it the way they do, with rules that are more lax than in the junior league, where there's a significant penalty?
6:05 p.m.
As an Individual
I can't speak for the NHL. In fact, I still have hopes that they will look at concussion and help out in one form or another in terms of aiding some research.
Dr. Mulder and I approached the concussion working group of the National Hockey League at the all-star game in L.A. Dr. Mulder is a long-standing doctor for the Montreal Canadiens. We asked for a million dollars per team, whether they piggyback with the NFL.... We didn't come up with a specific game plan, because it's their money and they're going to do whatever they want to do anyway, but if you want to put it towards imaging at McGill or Western, or if you want to do something else.... Whatever you want to do, let's just do something. Let's start focusing on being productive here and being proactive.
Unfortunately, it hasn't occurred, but I still hold a bit of hope that it would, so if you want to get off the NHL, it helps, maybe, you know.
6:05 p.m.
Charleswood—St. James—Assiniboia—Headingley, Lib.
Sure. Thank you.
Another issue with prevention is of course equipment. I'm old enough that I still remember watching the NHL when helmets were actually very unusual. I watched Bobby Orr playing without a helmet, and the greats of the time playing without helmets. You saw maybe one player on the team who had a helmet.
Are there current standards? Is it now mandated that you wear a helmet when you play in the NHL?
6:05 p.m.
As an Individual
It is. I actually played with the last guy who didn't. It was Craig MacTavish. That's how far back I go.
Yes, it is, and it is all the way through. When you go to the local outdoor rinks, I know that, if it's not law, they're certainly asking people to put helmets on, even if it's a free skate, which makes perfect sense to me. I think that's wonderful to do. Even the best skaters fall at times and can injure themselves. Having a helmet on, while it's not the end-all and be-all, does protect.
Now, it's not going to protect so much with concussion, I don't think. Everyone keeps talking about the equipment. I don't believe that's the case at all. I think it's the shoulder, the chest.... In the chest situation, your brain is still shaken within. A helmet is not going to help that. I don't see how equipment is going to make that change.
6:05 p.m.
Charleswood—St. James—Assiniboia—Headingley, Lib.
All right.
I guess the last question I have—
6:05 p.m.
Charleswood—St. James—Assiniboia—Headingley, Lib.
Okay.
As you said, there are rules now and you have to have a helmet. Are there any other substantial changes? Are there standards regarding the type of helmet, or is there anything beyond the helmet in the way of protection, facial protection?
6:05 p.m.
As an Individual
Not that I'm aware of. Most of the guys wear mouthguards, which I think is pretty smart to do.
Helmets have changed, but not drastically. They've improved, and they're always working on making things better, but again, it's not the equipment. The speed of the game right now is just so quick that when you have two bodies colliding—and it's inevitable that they're going to collide—a helmet's not going to do anything. It's not going to do anything even if they're slower, in many situations.
These things are going to occur. Concussions are going to occur.
6:05 p.m.
As an Individual
It's not to say to our kids, “Go sit on the couch. It's so much safer on the couch. Go watch your blah blah blah....” Let's not make people afraid. Let's say that these things are going to occur, and when they do, we are ready, organized and prepared for you and we can get you back onto the pitch or the rink when you're safe and sound, and you can get back out and have some fun.
That's really what we want to do—and get them back to school. It's not just the athlete or the kid missing school because they're not feeling well and they're going through a concussion thing; it's also the parent having to miss work. There's the trickle-down effect and the wave effect—
6:10 p.m.
Mr. Peter Fonseca (Mississauga East—Cooksville, Lib.)
Thank you.
We're going to move over to the Conservatives now.
Mr. Martel.
6:10 p.m.
Richard Martel Chicoutimi—Le Fjord, CPC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Lindros, thank you for being here today. You put a lot of hard work into the concussion file.
I was a coach for 18 years in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. I was behind the bench for the challenge between Ontario and Quebec at the Montreal Forum.
Let me take this opportunity to say that I saw you play when you were 16 years old. Honestly, I have to say that among the players of that age I had seen, you were among the most impressive. I have seen others—Sidney Crosby, the Lecavalier brothers, Brad Richards—but I've never seen a 16-year-old player dominate the ice as you did.
People did not use to believe in concussions like the one you sustained. Everyone thought, including professional hockey scouts, that people are invincible at that age. You skated, you checked, you did everything. People now are much more aware and better informed on the subject of concussions.
Why were concussions less recognized in the past than they have been in the past five years? Is it because of the speed of hockey? I remember very well that you checked very hard. Other players probably had concussions because they were checked by you. In your opinion, what caused this big change that led to so many concussions? Is it the speed? The equipment?
6:10 p.m.
As an Individual
First of all, thank you for your kind words.
Was it equipment? No. I think what happened in the nineties was two or three really massive impacts. I remember being hit by Darius Kasparaitis in Pittsburgh in an afternoon game, and coming to and being in the Pittsburgh dressing room, or the visitors' dressing room. They had the logos of the Pittsburgh Penguins everywhere. I thought I got traded to Pittsburgh. I guess the silver lining was that, at that particular moment, I had the chance to play with Mario Lemieux. But kidding aside, it was just a huge impact.
Again, with Scott Stevens, in game seven of the semifinals, he pulled a bit, coming over, and he hit me up top as I was reaching and poking. Those are just truly big impacts.
Do I think the numbers are going up? I think, to a certain extent, because of awareness.... I'd like to think that people are being honest. Again, I don't look to pro sport for this, because you have a situation where you have a contract coming up, and you don't want to be labelled as the guy who's had concussion problems. It's going to affect your.... You have your family, your kids, and so on. I think we leave pro sport out of it. But if we can be completely honest, all the way through minor hockey...and the culture, bring that into play. Let's be honest with ourselves here. At times, the worst person to ask is the person who is concussed.
In terms of common sense, I think we should take a little extra time. We go on the cautious side. But I think there was a bit of a peak because of the awareness. It's great that people are talking about it and they're looking out for themselves. But I think the numbers have been pretty steady for the last few years.