Some former professional hockey players are suing the NHL (National Hockey League).
In this case, it means they are asking the NHL to pay them money.
Two hundred former players say the NHL didn’t do enough to protect them from concussions (head injuries).
They say they have brain injuries because hockey is so rough, and they want the NHL to pay for their medical treatment.
The players say they should have been told how dangerous repeated brain injuries are.
They say the NHL waited until 1997 to put a “concussion program” in place, but the league should have known long before that how dangerous concussions are.
The players say the league should have changed the rules of hockey to make it less likely that players would get concussions. They also said the NHL should have changed its requirements for equipment that would better protect hockey players.
The lawsuit also says the NHL still doesn’t ban fighting and body checking, and claims it uses hockey players “whose main function is to fight or violently body check players on the other team.”
In 2010 the NHL changed its rules regarding body checking to make concussions less likely.
The NHL issued a statement in response to the lawsuit:
While the subject matter is very serious, we are completely satisfied with the responsible manner in which the League and the Players’ Association have managed player safety over time, including with respect to head injuries and concussions.
They said they will “defend the case vigorously.”
CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS
By Kathleen Tilly
Writing/Discussion Prompt
How many different sides are there to this story? Tell this story from one point-of-view – for example, you could be one of the players that got hurt, one of the players who hasn’t got hurt, the athlete’s doctor, the NHL etc.
Reading Prompt: Extending Understanding
Do you play sports? Is there a possibility that you could get injured when you play? If so, whose is responsible to prevent you from getting injured – is it your responsibility? your parents’ responsibility? or your coach’s responsibility?
Primary
Extend understanding of texts by connecting the ideas in them to their own knowledge and experience, to other familiar texts, and to the world around them (OME, Reading: 1.6).
Junior
Extend understanding of texts by connecting the ideas in them to their own knowledge, experience, and insights, to other familiar texts, and to the world around them (OME, Reading: 1.6).
Intermediate
Extend understanding of texts, including increasingly complex or difficult texts, by connecting the ideas in them to their own knowledge, experience, and insights, to other familiar texts, and to the world around them (OME, Reading: 1.6).
Grammar Feature: Indented Quotation
Instead of writing quotation marks around one of the quotations, the journalist chose to indent the quotation instead. Try to figure out why she did this and how she decided when to use quotation marks.
