Study finds NHL enforcers typically die 10 years younger than their fellow players

A new study from Columbia University in New York shows that NHL enforcers over the last five decades have died, on average, 10 years younger than their peers.

The study was published Wednesday in the JAMA Network Open medical journal and analyzed a sample of 6,039 NHL players from 1969 to last spring. Dr. Charles Popkin of the of the Columbia University Medical Center led the research team.

Although more than 90 percent of the players covered by the study are still alive, the mean age of death of the 26 deceased players in the “enforcer” group — defined as players with at least 50 career fights — was just 47.5, compared to 57.7 for the 24 in the control group.

Additionally, the researchers found that players who averaged three or more penalty minutes per game died, on average, at 45.2, compared to 55.2 for their counterparts.

The study also assessed the causes of death for each player in both groups. Out of the 331 players identified as enforcers, two died from neurodegenerative brain disorders, two from drug overdoses, three from suicides, and four from vehicular crashes.

“Being an enforcer was associated with dying approximately 10 years earlier and more frequently of suicide and drug overdose than matched controls,” the study reads. “Re-emphasis on player safety and improving quality of life after a hockey career should renew discussion to make fighting a game misconduct penalty in the NHL.”

Dr. Dave Ellemberg, a neuroscientist and professor at the University of Montreal who was not involved in the Columbia University study, told The Globe and Mail that the study’s findings add to the pile of evidence in support of abolishing fighting.

Ellemberg also drew a conclusion between the premature deaths of the enforcers and the fatal brain disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), which is associated with repeated traumatic brain injuries.

“Will this study be the straw that breaks the camel’s back? I hope so, but long before this study we had data that argued clearly in favour of abolishing fighting,” Ellemberg said. “On a very large scale, we see that there are athletes who present the characteristics of chronic traumatic encephalopathy without us having to do autopsies.”