Former NHL Enforcer Daniel Carcillo To Donate Brain For Cte Research

Longtime NHL enforcer-turned-player health advocate Daniel Carcillo announced via Twitter on Wednesday that he plans to donate his brain to "be used for study and furthering understanding of the consequences of traumatic brain injury."

Carcillo, who retired in 2015 after nine NHL seasons and having played on two Stanley Cup-winning Blackhawks teams, twice led the NHL in penalty minutes. Yet he said his announcement "is one of the scariest (and) hardest things I've ever had to write."

Carcillo has been an outspoken advocate for better healthcare for NHL players.

Calling the NHL "the league of denial," Carcillo has blasted officials for not punishing players more severely for shots to the head. His announcement regarding his brain came on the day the NHL suspended the Capitals' Tom Wilson for three games for a hit on the Penguins' Zach Aston-Reese that broke his jaw and gave him a concussion after, Carcillo noted, Wilson previously had knocked the Pens' Brian Dumoulin out of a game.

In a string of tweets last week, Carcillo called out the league and the players association for a lack of treatment and education for repetitive head traumas. He claims their inaction "has directly led to the deaths of 4 former players" — Derek Boogaard, Steve Montador, Wade Belak and Rick Rypien.

In an emotional video made for The Players Tribune in 2015, Carcillo, among other things, opened up about Montador — who was found to have CTE after his death at 35 in 2015 — and what he meant to Carcillo.

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