The lawsuit, filed Monday in federal court in Washington, seeks damages to be determined at trial. The players are also seeking court-approved medical monitoring for their brain trauma and/or injuries, which they blame on their NHL careers.
The suit comes just three months after the National Football League agreed to pay $765 million to settle lawsuits from thousands of former players who developed dementia or other concussion-related health problems.
The ex-hockey players claim that the NHL purposely concealed the risks of brain injuries faced by players, exposing them to unnecessary dangers.
The NHL didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
The 10 players filing the suit, according to ESPN's Pierre LeBrun: Gary Leeman, Brad Aitken, Darren Banks, Curt Bennett, Richard Dunn, Warren Holmes, Bob Manno, Blair Stewart, Morris Titanic and Rick Vaive. They range from 46 to 65 years old, and all but three are forwards. Some more info on them:
— Leeman: 49 years old, played from 1983-97. He scored 51 goals for the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1989-90.
— Aitken: 46 years old, played 14 total NHL games from 1987-91.
— Banks: 47 years old, played 20 games for the Boston Bruins from 1992-94.
— Bennett: 65 years old, played from 1970-80. Had consecutive 30-goal seasons for the Atlanta Flames.
— Dunn: 56 years old, played from 1977-1989, largely with the Buffalo Sabres. A defenseman, he had 176 points in 483 games.
— Holmes: 56 years old, played 45 games with the Los Angeles Kings form 1981-84.
— Manno: 57 years old, played from 1976-85. A defenseman, he had 172 points in 371 games.
— Stewart, 60 years old, played from 1973-80. He had 78 points in 229 games.
— Titanic: 60 years old, played 19 games for the Buffalo Sabres from 1974-76.
— Vaive: 54 years old. He played from 1978-92 and had 788 points in 876 games. He had nine seasons of 30 goals or more and three of more than 50 with the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1981-84.
MASSIVE TV DEAL SHAKEUP?
Did TSN lose out on the NHL's Canadian broadcast deal to the CBC and Sportsnet?
These tweets from TSN's Bob McKenzie certainly seem to imply it: "Pains me to report this, but NHL closing in on landmark CDN TV deal with two CDN networks. Many years (10+), many billions. #overandout.
"Official announcement expected Tuesday by NHL: CBC and Rogers have exclusive English-language NHL rights deal. Believed to be 12 year deal."
If TSN is out, it'd be a sea change for the way the sport is covered in Canada — its resources are second to none, and it employs the biggest names in the game. The implication from McKenzie — and again, it's a heavy one — is that Sportsnet would air games on cable, and CBC would continue its public, iconic "Hockey Night in Canada" broadcasts. The two would split the postseason.
A report by Chris Botta of SportsBusiness Journal, a sister publication of Sporting News, said that TSN was dragging its feet in the negotiations, which are expected to net the NHL more than $350 million annually.
In the current deal, CBC shows four of the eight first-round playoff series; two of the four second-round series; one full conference final plus four games of the other; and the Stanley Cup Final. The new agreement is likely to be without one of those four first-round series and without the four-game conference final package. However, CBC would retain its priority selection of series.
The NHL has successfully engaged TSN and Sportsnet in competitive bidding for the newly available inventory. TSN is likely to be the future rights holder of the NHL All-Star Game and is the leading candidate to own the rights to that second conference final, sources said. TSN’s current deal gives the network four first-round series, two second-round series and three games of the conference final series where CBC has the other four.
In its current deal, TSN pays $40 million annually. Sources said that TSN’s reluctance to pay substantially more has been the biggest stumbling block in the league’s overall negotiations with the Canadian networks, but the issues are expected to be resolved in the coming weeks.
Resolved indeed.
The situation will flesh itself out soon enough; it means that CBC keeps "Hockey Night In Canada," which is a positive thing, and it's a huge win for Sportsnet. Still, this is more about TSN losing its grip. Its studio show was the best in the sport, as were its trade deadline and draft coverage, and the sheer amount of programming it devoted to the NHL will be missed.
QUICK RECOVERY?
Steven Stamkos broke his leg on Nov. 11. Steven Stamkos had a rod placed in that leg on Nov. 12. On Nov. 25, Steven Stamkos walked into a press conference with no crutches and no protective boot.
Stamkos also said, best-case scenario, he'd be back in the lineup for a few Lightning games before the Olympics, which start on Feb. 6, then play for Team Canada. That would put his rehab at a little less than 10 weeks.
That's amazing. Two weeks ago, it seemed impossible.
It's also a little unnerving for two wholly separate reasons. One: As much of a workout animal as Stamkos may be (and he's already borderline legendary in that department), the human body can only take so much. Setbacks happen, and sometimes they happen after medical clearance. The league needs another 15-ish years of its purest goal-scorer.
Now, that possibility is mitigated a little by the fact that Tampa and Canada have the same general manager. It's tough to imagine Steve Yzerman jeopardizing the future of his franchise player under any circumstance.
Two: If Stamkos does come back and something resembling full strength, it'd be a major boon for Canada. And no right-thinking American wants that, right? So, best-case scenario — for American hockey fans, at least — is that Stamkos heads to Sochi completely healthy and extra rusty.
QUIT COMPLAINING
James Wisniewski had a valid point about the Columbus Blue Jackets' five-game road trip. It started in Ottawa and ended in Toronto with trips to Edmonton, Calgary, and Vancouver in between.
"I've never even seen anything like this," he said, as reported by TSN.ca. "Whoever scheduled this one forgot we played Ottawa first, I guess."
Yes, it is weird; a less-than-necessary flight from Vancouver to Toronto across two time zones isn't ideal. Then Wisniewski took it a little too far, saying the team got the "short end of the stick" because Columbus isn't an established NHL franchise.
That might've held water last year — but not anymore.
The league realigned in no small part to help out the Blue Jackets, who wanted to play Eastern time zone teams generally and the Pittsburgh Penguins specifically. The end result was an unbalanced Eastern Conference and a potentially disastrous playoff seeding process. That alone should probably kill any accusations of bias.
Beyond that, the scheduling process is rarely perfect — most teams have a trip or two they could carp about—and the Blue Jackets' travel schedule is more than reasonable. According to On The Forecheck's invaluable Super Schedule, Columbus will log less than 37,000 miles of travel this season.
That's the 10th least in the league, and more than 5,000 less than the average — and, again, Columbus is playing 30 games in their own time zone. Given what they'd dealt with in the past, the major change the league made on their behalf, and the difficulties of the schedule overall, it's probably best for them to suck it up — like Nick Foligno.
"I think this is real good test for us," he said Monday, according to TSN.ca. "Kind of tests our character."
Stay positive, buddy!
TROUBLE BREWING
Kevin Westgarth made a dangerous play Sunday, and he's likely to pay the price for it.
The Carolina Hurricanes forward has a telephone hearing with the NHL Department of Safety for boarding Ottawa's Mark Borowiecki.
It's tough to see how Westgarth is going to defend himself. He doesn't appear to slow down much, if at all, while approaching Borowiecki, who was in a seriously dangerous position.
Bad as Westgarth's hit looked, it's still probably not the worst board of the season; Cody McLeod holds those honors.
Borowiecki left the game with a stiff neck, which will factor into Brendan Shanahan's decision. Side note: Afterward, Ottawa coach Paul MacLean referred to Westgarth as "Player 8," which is pretty funny.
And if you're keeping score, Borowiecki would break the league's longest suspension-free stretch of the season. Tuesday will be 12 days since Nazem Kadri got two games for plowing into Niklas Backstrom.
PENS' BENNETT OUT 8-10 WEEKS
The Pittsburgh Penguins were concerned about Beau Bennett's injury, and for good reason: the winger will miss 8-10 weeks after surgery on a broken hand/wrist, coach Dan Bylsma said on Monday night.
The news came after Pittsburgh's 4-3 overtime loss to the Boston Bruins.
Bennett, 21, had a goal and two assists in 12 games this season, but positively impacted puck possession at even strength and saw time on a line with Sidney Crosby before he was hurt. He left Friday's game against the New York Islanders after flexing his left wrist.
More than likely, his absence means a permanent reunion of Crosby and Chris Kunitz with Pascal Dupuis, and Jussi Jokinen on a line with Evgeni Malkin and James Neal. Brian Gibbons could take Bennett's spot with Brandon Sutter and Matt D'Agostini. No matter who fills in, though, Pittsburgh's third line will suffer.
An eight-week absence would put Bennett out until late January. Ten weeks, obviously, would stretch into February.
MAPLE LEAFS MOST VALUABLE TEAM
Three of the NHL's top five most valuable teams are based in Canada for the first time since Forbes started tracking the value of teams in the league 15 years ago.
The Toronto Maple Leafs are worth an NHL-high $1.15 billion, followed by the New York Rangers, Montreal Canadiens, Vancouver Canucks and the defending champion Chicago Blackhawks, according to Forbes' annual valuations announced on Monday.
Forbes says Canadian teams usually have higher attendance, helping them generate more revenue from their arenas as compared to U.S.-based franchises.
NHL teams are valued at an average of $413 million, Forbes estimates.
The Boston Bruins rank sixth on the list followed by the Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins, Detroit Red Wings and Los Angeles Kings.
Contributors: Sean Gentille, The Associated Press
