team canada should get a restraining order against mike richards. he will destroy that team

Posted by FlyersFan on 12/19/09 at 11:17 PM ET

There’s a difference between “there’s danger” and “oh well, brain damage.”

Posted by George Malik from South Lyon, MI on 12/19/09 at 11:32 PM ET

I wasn’t aware that Milbury had a knee replacement.  Too bad.  They should’ve replaced his brain.  Seriously, is there a bigger *#$%@& in all of hockey?

Posted by Islesfan on 12/20/09 at 01:27 AM ET

Milbury is considered by many to have been the dimmest bulb ever among former general managers.  Why does anyone expect that he has anything to say that is really worth listening to?

Yes, there is danger, and the people who play hockey know that - they sign on for the possibility of knee replacements, shoulder surgeries, broken bones, missing teeth, and elbow problems, exactly the same as anyone else who plays a professional sport of any kind, or even has a very physically demanding job.  They did not sign on for, because they did not know, the prospect of dementia from brain damage in their 50s long after they retire from the game.  I don’t think that the prospect of brain trauma after players retire from the game enhances my enjoyment of the sport one bit - especially since it is an unknown risk and if the NHL follows the NFL they will spend a lot of their time denying the claims of retired players so they are left to suffer with inadequate financial and emotional support.

If the possibility (certainly?) of brain damage is such an integral part of the game, then the NHL should admit that, accept it, and publicize it to the players so they know they may have the brains of an 80 year old three decades early, and then add a surcharge of $10 or something to every ticket and piece of merchandise sold to set up a brain trauma support fund.  If men still want to permit their brains to be scrambled for the entertainment of fans, then there should be enough money set aside to support them when they become addled old men far before their time so their families aren’t financially strained by the foreseable effects of their concussions.

I think a lot of talented players would cash in as soon as they could and then promptly retire before they got hammered by too many concussions.  That would really improve the game on the ice.

Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 12/20/09 at 06:49 AM ET

And just in case you haven’t hard it already, Paul, it’s really appreciated that you post the Hotstove each week for the people who don’t have access to CBC or who miss it the first time around.  Thanks!

Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 12/20/09 at 07:10 AM ET

I would still take Richards on the team if only to play a defensive game. Yes, he’s had a bad year, but does this mean he can’t show up for the Olympics? Hardly. How many times have players having great years been invisible on the Olympic stage? I’m not sure if either him or Jordan Staal has played wing somewhere along the line, but how hard can it be? Avery does it.

Posted by Chris Brown from Sault Ste.Marie on 12/20/09 at 07:37 AM ET