Chicago Blackhawks rumors 2015: Family of Steve Montador files lawsuit against NHL
After playing professional hockey for a decade, Canadian Steve Montador's career abruptly ended when he was found dead in his Toronto home in February of this year at the very young age of 35. The cause of his death was not revealed to the public, but it has become a lot clearer after his family filed a lawsuit against the NHL, on the grounds that the league failed to inform the former Chicago Blackhawk about the risks of incurring long term brain damage.
Montador was primarily a journeyman throughout his career in the NHL, playing for six different teams in a ten-year span. The lawsuit was filed by his father, Paul, in behalf of the late player's son and other members of the family.
According to his father, Steve showed signs of brain damage, likely from the 15 documented concussions he suffered in his career. Those signs allegedly included erratic behavior, memory problems, and depression.
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The suit claimed that many other concussions he suffered were undocumented and/or undiagnosed.
"During the regular season NHL games, pre-season NHL games, NHL practices, and morning skates prior to NHL games, Steven Montador sustained thousands of sub-concussive brain traumas and multiple concussions," the suit stated.
Because he earlier signed donation papers for his brain to be handed to the Canadian Sports Concussion Project, researchers were able to figure out three months after his death that his brain did show chronic traumatic encephalopathy or CTE. The same issue has been a cause of controversy in full-contact sports because many players were showing signs of it. Further study of the new brain disease revealed that it has a link to repeated head trauma.
The family of the former Chicago Blackhawks defenseman claims that aside from being unable to keep Montador informed about the risk of long term brain damage, the league also failed to keep him safe and did not offer crucial medical information on brain trauma in general.
