I think something important to acknowledge about nhl, nfl and cte is that the nfl did not start acknowledging links between cte and football until being dragged to court over and over and eventually to congress and the relentless push of former players and the fact that our modern day understanding of CTE largely comes from former players participating in medical studies and often donating their brains to further research. This research became especially important in getting settlements for the families, particularly because the median salary is very low (860k~ right now), contracts are not fully guaranteed, and pensions are only available after three years, which not everyone can reach. The nfl as a league tried every possible way to deny a link between football and cte but players pushed it forward as a larger labor discussion both about the physical body. I know more about the historical aspects (mainly Bennet Omalu’s research and past litigation) than I do currently players opinions or organizing about it so I won’t try to speak on that, nor will I on college football. The lawsuit settlement had problems (dragging their feet and having strict terms on who gets compensation, race-norming practices, etc) but it did at least win some compensation and get them to acknowledge the link between football and cte. Player safety and injury protection was also an important issue for the NFLPA during the 2011 lockout (recovery time like no more two a day practices, additional benefits for retired players, five fewer weeks of offseason practice, limited contact practices)
Meanwhile, the nhl has not acknowledged there is a link between playing hockey and CTE. Everybody who’s been on earth more than one day knows they’re full of shit, but they’ve gotten off easier in court than the NFL has and when they did face a lawsuit of over 300 players, they were able to settle without admitting liability. Yhr biggest difference between their case and the nfl case is that the former nfl players were granted class action status and the nhl players were not (some of that was from the nhl being more willing to drag out the fight, likely because there were less players in the lawsuit.) more on that, The lawsuit size was DRASTICALLY different - about 300 nhl players to 4.5k nfl players, while nfl rosters are much bigger and higher roster turnover means there’s more nfl players out there, still not quite the reason for there to be such a disparity.
And part of that is I think there just hasn’t been that same level of organizing or concern among nhl players or the NHLPA. This is not to say it is the players fault, rather it is just true that change that protects the players will only come from the players, as the owners are only interested in lining their wallets and anything that may imply that there is a link between cte and hockey and admit liability is not going to happen. The NHLPA did make some big pushes to change how the glass in the arena is, to modify helmets, and aspects of research, but have been more hesitant to ask for rule changes. They did propose the rule 48 illegal hit to the head rule in 2009~, but was quite overdue at the time and took Crosby’s injury to come into fruition. Beyond that, the players union does not seem very interested in changing the game to be safer, even as research indicates that a significant number of concussions come from legal hits. Most players would still laugh at the idea of getting rid of open ice hits despite their danger, and there isn’t really a ton of older retired players leading the way on this either (many nfl players were hesitant about concussion protocol changes and changing rules to the game, but nflpa leadership did still overall move to enforce it and normalize it.) beyond implementing rule 48, most changes have been very minimal, though things like hybrid icing rules and not letting players go out there without a helmet are useful, they avoid addressing the biggest issues. I do hope that now that the NHLPA has stronger leadership they can address this more in 2030 now that they got issues like “the guys on the coyotes cannot keep playing out of a college arena for an owner who doesn’t pay hotel bills” has been addressed, but I won’t hold my breath, especially bc I thought they conceded a lot in the last cba
I am not a medical doctor or a lawyer so there’s probably a lot I can’t speak fully to here, and I’m also at work and had to keep stopping as I typed this to do work stuff so sorry if anything here is confusing and for the lack of links and how rambling it is
(I also want to clarify this isn’t a criticism of the post going around that made me think of it, more of a “yes, and,” that post is more about the public and fan perception of which sport is more violent and how that is skewed by racism, which is absolutely true and likely also plays a part in the nhl having an easier time in courts, It just also spawned this thought I’ve had for a while and I didn’t want to distract from that conversation)
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