User:ZappaOMatic/The Concussion Project/Hockey

Concussions, a form of traumatic brain injury, have been known to occur frequently in hockey, and is the sport with the second highest concussion rate (behind American football). The National Hockey League reports an annual amount of 75 concussions per year. The International Ice Hockey Federation penalizes any contact from the head to the collarbone. A study revealed that in a seven-year time frame from 1997 to 2004, concussions that last for more than ten days increased from 22% to 42%, and during the span, 559 concussions have occurred (an average of 5.8 for 100 players). During the 2006–07 NHL season, concussions increased by 41% from the previous season. The Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences released a report saying that kids ranging from five years to fifteen years of age would average about 2.2 concussions per 1000 hours of playing time, with pledge players averaging about 4 concussions for the same amount of time. A study conducted by the University of Calgary revealed that the amount of days lost by players with concussions are increasing over time. Among the symptoms reported are:

Ice hockey
In 2010, a conference called the Mayo Clinic Sports Medicine Center Ice Hockey Summit: Action on Concussion was held, and recommended banning all contact to the head in the NHL, and attempted to persuade the league and its minor leagues to join the IIHF, NCAA and Ontario Hockey League in banning head contact. The conference also recommended banning fighting, as fights have resulted in 6% of concussions. The conference had also recommended outlawing checking by 11- and 12-year old players.

The NHL had made hockey helmets mandatory in the 1979–80 NHL season to help prevent concussions. The league also formed a Concussion Working Group in 1997. A data release by the National Academy of Neuropsychology's Sports Concussion Symposium revealed that from 1997 to 2008, 759 NHL players have been diagnosed with a concussion.

The NHL adopted its concussion policy in 1997, where a team doctor is to take a player who has had a concussion to a private room for examination, and the doctor will decide whether or not the player can return to the game.

To help aid in concussion prevention, the NHL adopted Rule 48 at the start of the 2011 season, which bans blind-side checks to the head. In the wake of Pittsburgh Penguins player Sidney Crosby sustaining a concussion, the NHL passed the following rules:
 * Removal of the goaltender trapezoid
 * Reintroduction of the red lines to be aware of two-line passes
 * Reintroduction of obstruction

Another possible factor in concussions is fighting. In 2009, a panel from the London Hockey Concussion Summit urged the NHL to ban fighting. Postmortem tests on some NHL players revealed that they had suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), which is a form of degenerative disease that is comparable to Alzheimer's disease. Former enforcers Derek Boogaard, Reggie Fleming, Rick Martin, and Bob Probert's autopsies revealed that they had suffered from CTE.

Women's ice hockey
Though checking is not allowed in women's ice hockey, contact is allowed. Because of this, the game has been named one of the most dangerous college sports, with the concussion rate being 2.72 per 1,000 hours played. In comparison, men's ice hockey's concussion rates are 1.25 lower. Though concussions occur more in American football, college football has also reported a lower concussion rate than women's hockey, with a concussion rate of 2.34 with the same amount of hours.

Field hockey
In 2011, 62,000 high school field hockey players in the United States were instructed to wear goggles, but the use eventually led to a dispute over whether or not the goggles can protect players. USA Field Hockey managing director Laura Darling stated that concussions can occur more often if goggles were to be worn. A possible reason for the possibility of a concussion while wearing goggles is that if a ball or stick hits the goggles, it can lead to head injury.

""We actually think it could promote more injury. There’s indication more concussions happen with goggles. We’re doing our own research on it, and that is under way.""

- USA Field Hockey managing director Laura Darling

A study was conducted including six NCAA Division I field hockey teams, and out of the 253 players examined, 62 of the players suffered from head/face injuries (22.5 percent).