Marc Savard’s career came to an abrupt end back in 2011 after suffering a series of concussions. Since that time, his life has been difficult ride as he struggled to deal with the lingering effects from those concussions while also coming to grips with the fact his career had ended.
More recently, Savard has settled down, enjoyed his time with family and become an advocate for improved player safety, specifically trying to drive more awareness to the topic of concussions while trying to make sure players don’t suffer the same fate he endured.
In a recent interview with Sportsnet, Savard discussed his belief that the NHL needs to step up their punishments for hits to the head. He wants to see steep punishments for any kind of headshot, regardless of intent.
“As I sit here and I think back to the [Sidney] Crosby situation with [Matt] Niskanen—I know it doesn’t look deliberate but it’s still a headshot and I think there needs to be a suspension no matter what whether it’s deliberate or not. You still hit the head whether you meant to or not.
There needs to be time served for that just so players are even more aware so no matter what it’s an area you can’t hit. It needs to start at, I don’t know, seven games. It needs to get up in the big numbers right away so it’s that clear.”
Savard hopes that big punishments – such as ones which start with a multi-game suspension – will immediately curb the number of headshots seen around the league.
Concussions can have some devastating effects, but there’s still a lot to be learned about just how bad they can be to a player’s health. Savard has taken on that challenge personally by agreeing to donate his brain for CTE research.
The NHL has a lot of work to do regarding concussions. For starters, they need to avoid censoring their own players discussing injuries related to concussions. From there, they need to take some serious steps to protect the players out on the ice and their long-term health.
