Former Blackhawks Carcillo, Boynton sue NHL over brain injuries

Former Chicago Blackhawks Daniel Carcillo and Nick Boynton filed a lawsuit Friday against the NHL, alleging the league held back information about brain injuries.

According to statement by the Chicago law firm Corboy & Demetrio, "both players claim they suffered repeated concussive brain injuries throughout their careers and that they were never warned of the significant risk of brain damage because the League withheld the information from them and other players of their era."

Despite years of study, "the NHL still refuses to acknowledge that repetitive head trauma in the NHL can cause or contribute to cause neurodegenerative conditions, such as Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE)," according to the lawsuit.

Carcillo played in 474 games over nine seasons, including 90 games for the Blackhawks from 2011-13 and 2014-15. During that last season, Carcillo's good friend and teammate Steve Montador died at the age of 35. He learned about Montador's death just before the Hawks played a game on Feb. 15, 2015.

Boynton played in 605 NHL games, 48 with the Hawks from 2010-11.

"I'm doing this on behalf of all former NHL players that are struggling with the difficulties of transitioning from a life in the NHL with brains that have been damaged," Carcillo said in the statement released by Corboy & Demetrio. "Players today are still being denied proper care for concussions. It's time for the NHL to finally acknowledge that serious, permanent damage can be done if head trauma is ignored or neglected.

"I hope that any proceeds that we recover can be used to further concussion research."

How much in damages Carcillo and Boynton are seeking was not mentioned in the release.

The Blackhawks, through a spokesman, "respectfully" declined to comment.

Here is a link to the full lawsuit, which is online at: https://tinyurl.com/y7dc9jda