Henri Richard’s household says the late Hockey Hall of Famer has been identified with continual traumatic encephalopathy, the degenerative mind illness linked to concussions.

“I hope my father’s brain donation and diagnosis will lead to more prevention efforts, research, and eventually a CTE treatment,” Denis Richard, Henri’s son, mentioned on Wednesday, a day after the clinching recreation of the Stanley Cup Final. “I want people to understand this is a disease that impacts athletes far beyond football.”

Richard, who died in 2020 on the age of 84, was identified with CTE by Dr. Stephen Saikali at Université Laval in Québec City. The illness, which may solely be identified posthumously, may cause reminiscence loss, despair and violent temper swings in athletes, fight veterans and others who maintain repeated head trauma.

The Concussion Legacy Foundation mentioned 16 of 17 NHL gamers studied have now been identified with CTE, together with Steve Montador, Ralph Backstrom, Bob Probert, and Hall of Famer Stan Mikita.

“Henri Richard was not an enforcer and CTE still ravaged his brain,” mentioned Tim Fleiszer, a former Canadian Football League participant who's CLF Canada’s government director. “It is far past time for all of us in the Canadian sports community to acknowledge the long-term effects of repetitive impacts on the brain.”

Nicknamed the “Pocket Rocket” after following his brother, fellow Hall of Famer Maurice “Rocket” Richard into the game, Henri Richard gained the Stanley Cup 11 instances in a 20-year profession - essentially the most in NHL historical past. He scored 358 targets with 688 assists for the Montreal Canadiens from 1955-75.

Teammate and fellow Hall of Famer Ken Dryden mentioned Richard “fits none of the easy stereotypes” from an period when gamers didn’t put on helmets and combating was widespread.

“Like Stan Mikita and Ralph Backstrom, he was a great skater, and physical, but he had a playmaker’s mind, and played that way. But all those hits to the head,” Dryden mentioned. “We have to understand, whatever the sport, a hit to the head is not a good thing.”

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