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CTE, a Past Present and future danger for the SHL
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In the media, the sport of Football has had to endure the public vitriol as their negligence to address traumatic brain injuries has affected the general attitude towards the sport. The NFL has sadly become a scape-goat as other sporting leagues around the world are realizing that participation in their leagues are leading to later life complications for their athletes, the Simulation Hockey League is no different. Due to the violent nature of the sport, and the high speeds at which it is played, scientific research has revealed the long-term negative effects of playing hockey are worse than ever imagined. Since 2007, there have been multiple retired players that have come forward and addressed their deteriorating mental state due to their career as a professional SHL player. So far, there have been no tragic deaths that can be correlated to SHL participation, but the same cannot be said for other leagues across the globe. A new epidemic is emerging in the face of sports, one that slowly deteriorates ones mind, hiding dormant in the shadows until its presence is unavoidable, this disease is called Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE).

On September 24th, 2002, “Iron” Mike Webster was found dead in his pickup truck, having suffered a fatal heart attack overnight. As news of his death spread across various media outlets, the entire NFL community mourned the loss of once great Steeler. Unbeknownst to all, the nature of his death was much more sinister than initially appeared. The seemingly healthy hall of fame center, spent his last few years mysteriously suffering from various mental health ailments, which at that point, the causes of which were undetectable to team doctors and neurologists. As many in the football community disregarded the mysterious nature of his strange behaviour and sudden death to early Alzheimer's, Dr. Bennett Omalu, a Pittsburgh pathologist and what could be described as the opposite of a football fan, discovered that although Webster’s brain looked healthy on a CT scan, upon dissection, it was revealed that Webster’s brain had accumulated an excess of abnormal tau proteins caused from the repeated blows to the head that Webster received over his 15 seasons in the NFL. Omalu discovered that the reason for Mike Webster’s mental degradation was due to “repeated mild traumatic brain injury in professional football”. He called this phenomenon Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) which can be described as a degenerative brain disease caused by chronic blows to the head that lead to significant changes in mood, behaviour, and cognition. CTE resembles other cognitive degenerative disorders such as Dementia and Alzheimer's, as a patient would showcase symptoms such as memory loss and confusion, and overtime, the disease degenerates cognitive functions at a steady rate rendering the person into a shell of who they once were. A distinction is that CTE does not necessarily have to manifest in later stages of adulthood like the aforementioned diseases, but rather, the symptoms can manifest in early adulthood, even as young as 27 in a recently reported case. Individuals who have CTE also showcase violent mood swings, can become quite aggressive, lack proper impulse control, and often fall into a contemplative suicidal depressive state. CTE is undetectable prior to death as an autopsy is the only method of providing a diagnosis, however, these symptoms are a very accurate predictor of CTE but only when progressed into later stages of the condition, in other cases, for younger individuals, the individual could seemingly be perfectly healthy on the outside making an early diagnosis difficult. Since Mike Webster’s death in 2002, there have been multiple high-profile suicides of former NFL players including Junior Seau, Dave Duerson, Andre Waters, and most recently Aaron Hernandez, who was only 27 at the time of his death. But new studies have suggested that this disease is not limited to football, the sport of hockey is discovering that it to is facing a battle to ensure the safety of their athletes while also creating sanctions to prevent class action litigation.

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Retired Los Angeles Panther power forward, Kaapo Kekkonen, shone bright during his playing career but is now facing his hardest battle as the light within him is beginning to dim. Over the course of his 13 year career, Kekkonen had accumulated many hits to the head, most of which were incidental and not traumatic enough to concuss, however, the simple accumulation can be traumatic enough. Upon retirement Kekkonen began separating himself from the sport of hockey, spending less time watching the game, often going out of his way to avoid interviews. His isolation also pushed him away from his family and had him spiralling down to a dark place. Sadly, for Kekkonen, his playing career had finally caught up with him and was beginning to take it’s toll. The SHL has not had any noticeable deaths over the course of it’s history, but time is not it’s friend as sanctions to prevent major head trauma are only a new design. Players like Kekkonen, who played their entire career with very little advocacy for head contact, are showcasing irreversible symptoms. Fortunately for Kekkonen, the NHL has branched over, putting aside differences, to help advocate for the former players who often fight CTE by themselves. The NHL has recently experienced tragedies in which they have had to watch former players take their own life due to the complications of CTE, players such as Derek Boogard in May 2011, Rick Rypien in August of 2011, Wade Belak only 16 days after Rypien, and recently, Steve Montador in 2015. These tragic deaths, unsurprisingly including players known to play a physical game, revealed the devastating nature of hits to the head, and the immediacy for intervention from a league standpoint as well as from the general public. Kekkonen, who has not had a public appeared in over two years, agreed to an interview with Karey Koala, albeit, upon conclusion of the interview, both Kekkonen as well as our team had decided his story is best told through his eyes. Kekkonen has told us his plan on writing an article for the Player’s Tribune, hoping that current players and young aspiring athletes can hear first hand the effects of CTE and how real this issue is, with the intention of seeing additional rules and regulations enforced to not only protect current players, but ensure that once they retire, there are provisional services prepared for them to help through tough times without burdening family. Kekkonen, as well as other former players have reached out to the SHL to look into such a thing, feeling that the SHL should be responsible for the post career effects of their players citing the injuries were dealt during company time and are subjected to the same rules as workplace safety compensation. This would mean that the SHL are willing to openly address the issue of CTE and take responsibility for it, which if done proposes financial complications for the league.

Kekkonen, who has two young kids has implored the league to look into CTE specific research as he fears what has happened to him will continue to happen to young athletes.
In 2016, Drew Mulligan, junior hockey player from Hebron, Conn., killed himself in February 2016 at the age of 22 and was posthumously diagnosed with CTE in November. He played junior hockey for the Empire Junior Hockey League’s Springfield Pics in West Springfield, Mass. Known as an enforcer by his teammates, and received the majority of his brain injuries from fighting and being checked. Drew suffered multiple concussions over his short career, many of which took a visible toll on his temperament and personality, “he had really bad headaches and was very irritable. Light bugged him. Sometimes his speech would get mixed up. I noticed after his last concussion when he played with the Pics that he got a lot meaner. He picked fights over nothing and school became a lot harder for him,” Drew’s sister Karly said as she spoke to our team, "he told me something wasn’t right with his brain. So it was almost validation for him. It was bittersweet to hear your brother, your best friend, had brain damage. But it was also reassuring. It was a no-brainer to do the testing if it might help someone else.”

Dr. McKee from the University of Boston medical research department was the physician in charge of assessing Mulligan’s brain. He notes that “we (Boston University) are focusing on hockey now,” Dr. McKee said in an interview with Karey Koala . “We’re really trying to put together our experience… We’re hoping hockey is not as high a risk as football where there are more impacts every game in a more predictable fashion, but [CTE prevalence] could be just as high in hockey.” Mulligan was only one of the four players that McKee posthumously assessed to having CTE, the three other players were left anonymous, however there is reason to believe that none of the players were over the age of 23. This draws horrific conclusions to the nature of degenerative cognitive diseases and the future of the SHL. “If the SHL is to protect it’s players, it needs to address this issue now, CTE almost killed me, it still might” says Kekkonen, “there are too many hits to the head, and not enough rules to deter it…and players are not going to stop, because willful ignorance is an easier tack to take than being concerned about CTE when you’re still making your living as a professional athlete.”

We reached out the SHL Head Office to discuss this issue to no avail, that is not saying the SHL is turning a blind eye to the issue, it is just that they do not feel that this is the appropriate time to openly discourse the subject matter. I on one had respect their decision to collect data and facts before sending out their PR team, however, what are they waiting for, an SHL player to take their own life? The science is conclusive that CTE is a part of hockey now, addressing the issue should be the number one priority for the league as the safety of the players today and for the future will be in best interest for the league. Kekkonen, who is pioneering a support group for players experiencing symptoms of CTE has asked for the media to start addressing this issue candidly. Parents should know the risks of getting their children involved in contact sports and players should understand the risks as well. If the decision is to continue playing hockey, I game I love very much after taking the time to think about the consequences, I will respect that, but if players are signing up blindly, I have a problem with that.

The NHL has recently concluded that there are over 550 concussions experienced throughout an NHL year. The SHL has yet to do it’s research. The NFL is currently under litigation and may experience a class action lawsuit upwards of hundreds of millions of dollars in restitution fees and negligence, if the SHL is to continue to be hush on the subject of CTE and brain trauma experienced through hockey, a similar outcome is more than inevitable.


Special thanks to <a href='index.php?showuser=1163' rel='nofollow' alt='profile link' class='user-tagged mgroup-13'>WannabeFinn</a> for allowing me interview his player.

Quote:~1880 words. Using this as my x2 first article. The previous one was draft related as this is not.
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#2

Some real high quality content here, keep it up!

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#3

thanks yeah I worked hard on this one Surrender
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#4

Nice work!

Hope Kekks is okay :unsure:

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#5

I just talked to him, I think he is going to make it.
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#6

Quality media right here.

Jack Tanner (D) - [Player Page] [Player Updates]


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#7

I’m actually crying. Well done.

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by @NUCK @QuantumCowboy @engimatic @GLU @FlappyGiraffe @karey

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#8

<a href='index.php?showuser=2436' rel='nofollow' alt='profile link' class='user-tagged mgroup-13'>galatix</a>
This means a lot, in my real life I am deeply invested into this topic, it is one that I have a familial history with. So I appreciate the warm response to it.
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#9

Just gonna say, I let karey use my player’s name for the media but CTE is a big deal to me and it has assuredly directly effected the people around me, myself included

CTE is a huge fuckin issue

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#10

@Boomcheck do some reading
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