Former Enforcer Peluso Blames Devils, Lou Lamoriello

[iacas]

http://www.nj.com/devils/index.ssf/2015/05/mike_peluso_dealing_with_brain_damage_blames_devil.html

Sad, sad story. Concussions are no joke.

[mcanadiens]

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl-team-wrongfully-withheld-documents-from-player-in-brain-injury-case-1.636989

The above link contains a bit more information about the specifics of Peluso's argument. The accusation was that the Devils withheld information from Peluso that likely led to him playing and sustaining further brain damage.  For his career, Peluso had 1951 PIMS and 232 fighting majors in 458 regular season games.  A full five and a half season came after the 1993 incident mentioned in the story. I guess the interesting question is whether Peluso would have retired if he'd known the extent of things.

[iacas]

2 minutes ago, mcanadiens said:

I guess the interesting question is whether Peluso would have retired if he'd known the extent of things.

He said he would have in the OP URL.

[mcanadiens]

15 minutes ago, iacas said:

He said he would have in the OP URL.

Sure he did. He wouldn't have a case otherwise. Just speculation of course.

On the same lines, there is the story of Reggie Fleming. Also a enforcer, he went as low as Kenosha of the Continental Hockey League before his phone stopped ringing. Some real rough stories about that guy's post-hockey life.

[iacas]

50 minutes ago, mcanadiens said:

Sure he did. He wouldn't have a case otherwise. Just speculation of course.

I'm cynical, but no. I think it's perfectly believable that if he knew he'd be living with all he has to deal with right now and that he will likely die in a decade or so, he'd choose to do something else, even if that was pumping gas in NJ instead.

[mcanadiens]

Hockey is an incredibly dangerous game under any circumstances. That's what made the evolution of the enforcer-role so unfortunate.

Under the circumstances of 1970s era hockey, it made sense to have multiple guys that can fight. As time went on, those fighters became more and more specialized until they became a specialist. The only metrics for the enforcer were PIMs and fighting majors. By the 80s, you essentially had guys that needed to get their five minutes regardless of what was going on otherwise. Back in the day, Washington and Vancouver could be playing the cleanest game ever and Chris Simon and Gino Odjick still needed to get their fight in. They'd find each other. "Hey Chris, you ready?" "Sure Gino." and off they'd go. All in a night's work.

There are a ton of non or infrequent fighters that have battled concussions, but the fight-a-night crowd has to be nearly certain. I prefer my hockey physical, but there is no question that no player should ever be a designated fighter again. 

[billchao]

20 hours ago, iacas said:

http://www.nj.com/devils/index.ssf/2015/05/mike_peluso_dealing_with_brain_damage_blames_devil.html

Sad, sad story. Concussions are no joke.

I read about this. Truly sad.

The concussions are obviously bad, but what I'm appalled with is the fact that Lamoriello and the Devils organization at the time felt justified in withholding that information from Peluso. Regardless of legal right, they should have been morally obligated to tell him that continuing to do his job was a hazard to his health and let him choose for himself.

[mcanadiens]

Just looked up the video on the original concussion incident mentioned in the stories, the fight against Tony Twist. It was pretty brutal.

Twist never got quite as much run as Probert or McSorely, but he was one of the most physically powerful guys that ever hit the ice. In this one, Twist got a handful of Peluso right sleeve, jerks him off balance and hammers him flush in the face with a big right. Peluso was on his back a good 30 seconds with the trainers before he started getting up. In today's NHL, he wouldn't have seen the ice for a month after that. The idea that he dropped em with Baumgartner five days later is hard to fathom.