Photo credit: The NHL Network
Top NHL player agent Allan Walsh, who is never afraid to speak his mind regardless of how controversial, is ripping the comments made by NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman over Ken Dryden’s legacy.
The NHL’s extended family suffered a loss over the weekend, as former Montreal Canadiens goalie Ken Dryden succumbed to cancer.
Dryden won 6 Stanley Cups during his NHL career in Montreal and won numerous other awards and accolades, and was a shoe-in for the Hall of Fame.
Allan Walsh Calls Out Bettman for Omitting Dryden’s Fight on CTE
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman issued a statement of sympathy and remembrance shortly after Dryden’s passing was confirmed.
But controversial player agent Allan Walsh, who is no stranger to causing controversy when it comes to defending his clients, blasted Bettman’s statement for not having included Dryden’s work in fighting CTE (Chronic traumatic encephalopathy), defined as a neurodegenerative disease linked to repeated trauma to the head.
There is no better way to honor Ken’s legacy to the game than to finally admit the link between head impacts and #CTE and start implementing Ken’s thoughtful solutions from Game Change to make the game safer for all players.
Walsh has caused considerable controversy in the past, perhaps most notably when he posted an image of client Marc-Andre Fleury with a sword through his back as an unsubtle jab at former Vegas Golden Knights coach Peter DeBoer.
Gary Bettman has often disputed claims of CTE being linked to hockey
Bettman, who has been the Commissioner of the NHL since 1993, has gone on record by stating his belief that there isn’t any concrete evidence that links CTE with anything related to the NHL, be it fighting or hits to the head.
We listen to the medical opinions on CTE, and I don’t believe there has been any documented study that suggests that elements of our game result in CTE. There have been isolated cases of players who have played the game [who] have had CTE. But it doesn’t mean that it necessarily came from playing in the NHL.
Multiple former NHL players have posthumously been diagnosed with CTE, including Bobby Hull, Stan Mikita, Bob Probert, Henri Richard, Chris Simon, Greg Johnson, and Derek Boogaard.
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Top NHL Agent Reams Gary Bettman for His Disrespect of Ken Dryden’s Legacy
Was Gary Bettman disrespectful toward Ken Dryden by not talking about his CTE work?