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Well its finally happened. Ten retired players are suing the NHL in a class action lawsuit alleging that the league didnt do enough to protect their brains. Gary Leeman, Rick Vaive, Brad Aitken, Darren Banks, Curt Bennett, Richie Dunn, Warren Holmes, Bob Manno, Blair Stewart and Morris Titanic retained the law firm Silverman Thompson Slutkin & White and filed their lawsuit on Monday. This lawsuit is not a surprise, and most certainly is not a surprise to the NHL. The league is run by lawyers (Gary Bettman and Bill Daly) and its likely they have been anticipating a court action for some time. When I interviewed Bill Daly on my radio show in May of this year, I asked him if the league was concerned about the possibility of a concussion lawsuit like we saw in the NFL. This was his response: "Certainly, were aware of them, and aware of the industry in which we operate. You have to be cognizant of whats going on around you. Im a lawyer by training, so I follow legal developments and certainly thats a legal development...Having said that, I dont think litigation per se can direct your business strategy. I think its similar to what we were talking about before. You have to do what is right. Obviously, we feel there is an obligation on the part of the league office to make the game as safe as it can be without changing the culture of the game. Part of the attractiveness of our sport as an entertainment product is the contact nature of our sport. You dont want to take contact out. At the same time, if you can minimize injuries and make it safer for the players, you try to do that." On to the lawsuit. The key allegation raised by the players is concealment. The players are arguing that the league knew of the long-term neurological impact of repeated headshots and elected not to share that information with the players. By not revealing that information, players did not have an opportunity to make an informed decision about playing in the NHL. So the focal point of this lawsuit has less to do with the players knowing the risk, playing and complaining after the fact. Rather, the pivotal issue is whether the league concealed information. Do the players have a case? That is tough to say since everything turns on the evidence. However, this is not an easy lawsuit for the players. They will have an number of hurdles to overcome. First is the issue of causation. In order to get paid, the plaintiffs like Vaive and Leeman are going to have to show that the brain damage they suffered was caused at the NHL level. On the flip side, the NHL will point out that no one can say for sure what caused a players neurological condition, and even if it was caused by repeated headshots while playing hockey, how much of that damage was sustained while in the NHL and not in places like the AHL, WHL or Europe. So what caused the damage and when it was caused become critically important issues. Leeman played about 660 regular season NHL games. He also played 357 games outside the NHL. Will he be able to make a convincing case that even if the NHL concealed information, his neurological impairment was caused at the NHL level? What kind of chance does Warren Holmes have of proving the NHL caused his damage when he only played 45 regular season NHL games while playing in 737 games outside the league? And what about Morris Titanic, who played just 19 NHL games. The league will also take the position that it didnt conceal any information. Rather, they will argue that there wasnt any conclusive science at the time and they had the same information the players had. Basically, they will say we knew what you knew. That being the case, the league will then maintain that the players were aware of the risk associated with playing hockey based on the science at that time, and agreed to those risks each time they stepped onto the ice. This legal principle is called informed consent (which makes sense since thats a nice way to describe it). The NHL could also argue that this lawsuit doesnt belong in court in the first place, but rather should go to arbitration. The collective bargaining agreement provides that issues of player health and safety go to arbitration and not court. On the flip side, the players could take the position that since this case involves fraud, it properly falls outside of arbitration and within the jurisdiction of the courts. So the bottom line is this: the players will need to provide good evidence showing that the league concealed the harmful impact of repeated headshots. If they dont have that evidence, they will have a very difficult time. On top of that, they will need to deal with the very tricky issue of causation. As far as next steps, it would not be a surprise to see more players join the lawsuit. Indeed, Vaive, Leeman and the other eight plaintiffs will not want to stand alone as there is strength in numbers. They will also look to make splash with a big name player. Ultimately, their goal may be settlement that provides players with some level of monetary relief very much like we saw in the NFL concussion lawsuits. In that case, the sides settled for about $765 million (however, the settlement has not yet been approved by the Court and any player has the option to opt out of the settlement and file his own lawsuit). On the NHL side, the league may look to have the lawsuit kicked out of court on the basis that it doesnt belong in court but rather at arbitration. This lawsuit is just starting and there is still a lot of ground to cover. Stay tuned. Cheap Jerseys Review . 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Louis Blues brought in the premier unrestricted free agent centre, and did it without breaking the bank.Atlanta, GA (SportsNetwork.com) - LeVeon Bell scored twice and set the Steelers franchise record for yards from scrimmage as Pittsburgh went into Atlanta and beat the Falcons 27-20 on Sunday. Bell did not find much running room against an uncharacteristically stingy Atlanta front, but he did reach the end zone twice among 20 carries for 47 yards. He also made five catches for 72 yards and broke Barry Fosters single-season Steelers record for yards from scrimmage with 2,042. Ben Roethlisberger completed 27-of-35 passes for 360 yards, 123 of those going to his favorite target, Antonio Brown. Brown extended his streak of at least five catches and 50 yards to 30 games. If you can get hot and play your best football at the right time, youre a dangerous football team, Roethlisberger said. I dont know if were there yet, but we got a win and were happy about it. With the win, the Steelers (9-5) kept pace in the tight AFC North race. Cincinnati, which blanked Johnny Manziel and the Browns on Sunday, maintained its half-game lead ahead of Pittsburgh and Baltimore, which took down Jacksonville. Matt Ryan threw for 310 yards with two touchdowns and an interception for the Falcons (5-9), who remain alive in the lowly NFC South. We felt we had lots of chances to have a different outcome, said Falcons coach Mike Smith. Harry Douglas filled in admirably for an injured Julio Jones, making 10 catches for 131 yards. Jones, who was coming off a career-high 259 yards against Green Bay last Monday, was unable to play through a hip pointer injury he suffered late in a loss to the Packers. Roethlisberger completed four of his five passes for 52 yards on Pittsburghs opening touch, but he missed Heath Miller on 3rd-and-5 from the 20. The Steelers settled for a 38-yard Shaun Suisham field goal. Suisham split the uprights again from 38 yards away with two seconds left in the first quarter to cap a 72-yard drive. On the first play of the second, Ryan underthrew Douglas.dddddddddddd. William Gay jumped the route, came up with his third interception of the season and juked two Falcons on his way to a 52-yard touchdown return. This week didnt start the way that we wanted it to, said Ryan. We had opportunities early on and just missed on a couple. Atlanta got on the board with 4:19 left in the second half, when Ryan floated a ball to the back right corner of the end zone for Devin Hester. His second receiving TD of the year made it 13-7. Browns 28-yard reception near the left pylon in the final minute led to Bells short rushing score that made it 20-7 at halftime. Brown was initially ruled out of bounds, but a lengthy review determined that he got both feet down at the 1-yard line. Atlanta controlled the clock in the third quarter with two lengthy drives but had just two Matt Bryant field goals to show for it. Drives of 70 and 75 yards led to a pair of short kicks. The Falcons were within a touchdown heading into the fourth, but Bells 13- yard TD run down the left sideline 49 seconds into the final stanza gave the Steelers a 27-13 lead. Roddy Whites 4-yard touchdown grab, set up by a 41-yard Douglas pitch-and- catch, had Atlanta again within seven points with just over 10 minutes remaining. The Falcons went three-and-out later in the fourth and Pittsburgh was able to milk the remainder of the clock. On 3rd-and-1 from the Falcons 39 out of the two-minute warning, Roethlisberger used a play fake to get the defense off balance and hit Miller for a 25-yard gain. Roethlisberger kneeled twice to burn the remaining time. Game Notes The Falcons have allowed an NFL-worst 19 rushing touchdowns ... The Steelers are 13-2-1 all-time against Atlanta ... 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