By Canadian Press

Banning hits to head would mean end of all hits in NHL, Bettman says

May 1, 2019 | 3:14 PM

OTTAWA — The commissioner of the National Hockey League says it would be impossible to ban all hits to the head and maintain hockey as a physical game as it is today.

Gary Bettman says larger players would inevitably land blows on smaller players’ heads in the normal course of play.

Testifying in front of a panel of MPs on Parliament Hill, Bettman says the game he oversees is safer for players and different in terms of physical contact from football, where there are repeated blows to players’ heads.

Bettman also says he hasn’t seen any evidence to link long-term brain damage and multiple blows to the head while playing the game.

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The special committee of MPs is looking at 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 panel of MPs has heard from a number of high-profile sports personalities during its study, including CFL commissioner Randy Ambrosie and former NHL player Eric Lindros, whose hall-of-fame career was cut short after suffering multiple concussions.

The Canadian Press