OTTAWA — The commissioner of the National Hockey League hit back Wednesday at the notion of banning any kind of head contact in hockey, telling a parliamentary panel that such a rule would be impossible to enforce and lead to the end of hitting in hockey. The league has faced calls to penalize any head contact in the hope of eliminating potentially debilitating concussions. Bettman decried what he called "blanket statements about changing a rule" on head contact that might not address "where the injuries are being caused." The special committee of MPs has spent months holding hearings on the issue of concussions, including options for treatment, prevention and what, if anything, the federal government should be doing about sports-related head injuries. The NHL reached a settlement last year with hundreds of retired players who claimed harms from head injuries while playing.

Source: Huffington Post May 02, 2019 12:33 UTC