Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal wrote a letter to NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, imploring him and the league to bolster their efforts in raising awareness about the potential link between hockey and brain trauma.
Blumenthal released the letter Thursday. He cited prior comments Bettman made that seemed "dismissive" of chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, and other head trauma in regard to hockey in the aftermath of the NFL's first public acknowledgement of the link in its sport.
Regarding the comparison between the two major North American sports, the senator's letter read in part:
While hockey and football are certainly different, both are full-contact sports that likely present risks to their participants.