Former Blackhawks Daniel Carcillo and Nick Boynton are suing the NHL for withholding information about concussion-related brain injuries.
The suit, filed Friday by attorneys Thomas A. Demetrio and William T. Gibbs, claims that the players were never warned about the risk of brain damage caused by repeated hits to the head. According to the complaint, the league "allowed and encouraged" the players to return to the ice after incurring concussions.
"The NHL is long overdue in acknowledging the significant risks inherent in their style of game," Gibbs said in a press release.
The law firm also represents the estate of Steve Montador, the former Blackhawk who died in February of 2015 at age 35. Montador's autopsy revealed that he had chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). The same firm filed a suit against the NHL on Montador's behalf in December of 2015.
Montador and Carcillo were teammates with the Blackhawks.
"I'm doing this on behalf of all former NHL players that are struggling with the difficulties of transitioning from a life in the NHL with brains that have been damaged." Carcillo said in the release. "Players today are still being denied proper care for concussions. It's time for the NHL to finally acknowledge that serious, permanent damage can be done if head trauma is ignored or neglected."
Carcillo played nine seasons in the NHL, three of them with the Blackhawks, including the 2013 and 2015 Stanley Cup champions. Nicknamed "Car Bomb," he was mainly known as an enforcer and twice led the NHL in penalty minutes. Boynton played 11 seasons in the league and appeared in 605 regular-season games, 48 of them with the Hawks, and was a member of the 2010 Cup winners.
