WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 25: Chris Nowinski, former professional wrestler for World Wrestling Entertainment, and founding executive director of the Sports Legacy Institute; Ben Utecht, former National Football League tight end for the Cincinnati Bengals and Indianapolis Colts; Jacob VanLandingham, director of neurobiological research at the Tallahassee Memorial Healthcare Neuroscience Center, and assistant professor of the Florida State University College of Medicine; and Robert Stern, professor of neurology, neurosurgery, and anatomy and neurobiology, and clinical core director of Boston University School of Medicine's Alzheimer's Disease Center testify before the Senate Special Committee on Aging June 25, 2014 in Washington, DC. The committee heard testimony on the 'State of Play: Brain Injuries and Diseases of Aging.' (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 25: Chris Nowinski, former professional wrestler for World Wrestling Entertainment, and founding executive director of the Sports Legacy Institute; Ben Utecht, former National Football League tight end for the Cincinnati Bengals and Indianapolis Colts; Jacob VanLandingham, director of neurobiological research at the Tallahassee Memorial Healthcare Neuroscience Center, and assistant professor of the Florida State University College of Medicine; and Robert Stern, professor of neurology, neurosurgery, and anatomy and neurobiology, and clinical core director of Boston University School of Medicine's Alzheimer's Disease Center testify before the Senate Special Committee on Aging June 25, 2014 in Washington, DC. The committee heard testimony on the 'State of Play: Brain Injuries and Diseases of Aging.' (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

In the recent past, the NHL has seen a few tragic tipping points for head injuries and player safety.

Enforcer Derek Boogaard’s overdose death was one, which initially led to the question of hockey players taking prescription pills. When it was found his young brain had Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), a degenerative disease linked to head trauma for which there is no known cure, this created another wrinkle and questions about fighting’s place in the game – a query that still lingers.

The passing of former Blackhawks defenseman Steve Montador was the most recent hockey tragedy. His death, and subsequent findings of CTE in his brain, have led to more questions about how the NHL and NHLPA protect their players in this dangerous game.

Daniel Carcillo’s heartfelt video on Players’ Tribune brought up questions about post-retirement preparedness for players by the NHL and the NHLPA.

A lawsuit by 60 former NHL players has made us wonder if the NHL or hockey culture is to blame for head injuries amongst some of the game’s top players.

When NHL commissioner Gary Bettman met with reporters in Chicago on Thursday night, he was asked about Montador, head injuries and how they contribute to CTE, he said via CBS Chicago:

“From a medical science standpoint, there is no evidence yet that one necessarily leads to the other…”

“I know there are a lot of theories, but if you ask people who study it, they tell you there is no statistical correlation that can definitively make that conclusion.”

This struck a nerve with Chris Nowinski, the co-founder and executive director of the Sports Legacy Institute a “non-profit organization dedicated to solving the sports concussion crisis through education, policy, and research.”

He quickly fired back at Bettman on Twitter for his comments and made a poignant statement in 140 characters or less.

Nowinski also works with Boston University CTE Center.

“The people who are actually doing the work on CTE are far more convinced than people who are lobbing grenades from the sidelines,” Nowinski told Puck Daddy.

Contact is always present in hockey. Some believe the hits and crashes (and for a few the fights) are part of what make the game great. Others believe it can still be a fantastic product without the rough stuff.

It’s a business, it’s trying to make money, but it also needs to protect its players. Montador’s death has made this apparent. The league has made strides with the Department of Player Safety. But when the commissioner makes a comment like that, it could bring some level of confusion.

We chatted with Nowinski over the phone and brought up a number of topics including Bettman’s words, why they struck a nerve and how the NHL (and NHLPA) can do more for their players.

Q: What led to you tweeting about the commissioner’s comments?

NOWINSKI: You get tired of the clever lawyer-speak that completely misleads the average person, which is why I sort of hedged what I said. Basically everything the commissioner said was sort of meant to create confusion.

A lot of folks in professional sports like to use the words ‘no evidence’ and like to say ‘there’s no evidence from a medical or scientific standpoint’ but then they create a straw man statement that no one is making, and so you get frustrated because when they say there’s no evidence that one 'necessarily leads to the other,’ no one is saying that one necessarily leads to the other in all cases. The same thing goes for smoking. It doesn’t ‘necessarily’ lead to lung cancer, so people will remember ‘no medical or scientific evidence.’

But that’s just not true. We have plenty of medical and scientific evidence that brain trauma leads to CTE. In fact the experts from the Department of Defense and the National Institute of Health are both on record saying they personally believe that CTE is caused by brain trauma. That’s not known by the average person, and he (Bettman) made another claim just like that. I know there are a lot of theories where people study it and say there is no physical correlation that can definitively make that conclusion. And that is also true, but there’s no statistical correlation, again, for most diseases that have been studied far longer. We can’t diagnose in living people so we can’t make a physical correlation for how many people are living with this right now.

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