The Hockey Study is in and it’s a Whopper

The Hockey Study is in and it’s a Whopper

January 22, 2014 • Blog, Social, Sports

Both hockey and football have been at the centre of interesting debates over the past few years with regard to injuries, especially those related to the head. For the NHL, player injuries can account for as much as $200 million a year.

A recent study published Monday from researchers at Toronto’s St. Michael’s Hospital states that NHL owners tend to pay out as much as US$653 million over three seasons to players who miss games due to injury. Furthermore, 63% of the 1,307 NHL players that skated during those three years (2009-10, 2010-11, 2011-12) missed at least one game.

These are huge numbers and by and large the NHL has been one of the most resistant sports organizations to regulate changes when it comes to violence because it is believed that without it the sport will experience a drop in fans and revenue.

According to a report done by the British Medical Journal, the most common injuries appear to be associated with the lower extremities, mostly the leg or foot, and account for nearly 30% of the total cost of unearned salaries, or roughly $68 million. Accounting for $353,300 per player injured are head and neck injuries such as concussions, which cost the league the most money.

All in all these studies point to the fact that changes need to be examined and considered with a little more enthusiasm. The more money the NHL and its owners are dumping into its players due to injury means the more money it will cost to buy a ticket. So it isn’t only hurting the players but it is also hurting the fans. Then again, hockey fans are said to have a gladiatorial mindset. We seem to enjoy watching players beat each other up and in the end we reward them for it.

Who knows, give it a few years and maybe hockey will change. Maybe it’ll become a less violent sport.

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2014/01/20/hockey-injuries-cost-nhl_n_4629607.html

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