Brain injuries in the NHL have come to the fore with players’ mental health problems.
Jonathan Huberdeau scored 115 points in the regular season last season. AOP / USA TODAY Sports
Traded from the Florida Panthers to the Calgary Flames in the summer Jonathan Huberdeau has said he will donate his brain to science. Huberdeau’s donation is used for brain injury research.
– As an NHL player, I am aware of the effects of traumatic brain injuries and concussions on mental health, Huberdeau said in the publication of Project Enlist Canada, which maintains the project.
Huberdeau is only the second NHL player who has pledged to donate his brain to charity during his active career. In 2017, a defender Ben Lovejoy had done the same before Huberdeau.
About former NHL players Daniel Carcillo, Jeff Parker, JT Brown and Craig Adams have talked about donating their brains after their careers.
Parker passed away in 2017, and after his death it was found that he had CTE, or Cerebral Degeneration, in his brain.
Brain injuries and their long-term effects have been discussed in the NHL in recent years. Many scrappy NHL players have suffered from mental health problems and died young.
For example, from an NHL defenseman who died in 2015 From Steve Montador brain degeneration was found after death. Montadori’s family sued the NHL, accusing the series of promoting violence, which the NHL vehemently rejected.
One of the best female hockey players of all time Hayley Wickenheiser was a close friend of Montador. Wickenhaiser also plans to participate in a brain donation to honor his late friend’s memory.