sport news As critics blame Chris Simon's suicide on head injuries and NHL brawls, former ... trends now

The age-old debates over violence and head injuries in hockey were reignited this week by the tragic suicide of long-time NHL enforcer Chris Simon, a complicated 52-year-old former player who was whistled for 101 fighting majors over his 15-year career.

'I'm angry and devastated at such a senseless tragedy,' NHL agent Allan Walsh wrote on X. '101 fighting majors and [NHL commissioner] Gary Bettman still denies the cumulative effects of repetitive head impacts. There is retired NHL players (sic) blood on Gary's hands. My condolences and sympathies to Chris' family and friends.'

The degenerative brain disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) has already been blamed for Simon's death by his family, who explained in a statement that he 'struggled immensely' with the condition. But CTE can only be diagnosed posthumously, so that definitive conclusion, as well as other potential factors, may not be verified for some time.

Further complicating the discussion is the source of Simon's potential CTE. Whereas deputy commissioner Bill Daly dismissed the connection between repeated head trauma and the brain disease on Wednesday, angry fans have insisted that Simon's death was the direct result of brain injuries from his many on-ice brawls.

But to Chris 'Knuckles' Nilan, a 66-year-old former Montreal Canadiens enforcer, fighting isn't the only possible culprit. Speaking with DailyMail.com in the wake of Simon's death, Nilan questioned the conclusion that fighting inherently leads to CTE, instead suggesting that violent checks are primarily to blame for head trauma in hockey.

'When guys get body checks, shoulder to shoulder, and they go into the boards, there is some disturbance there in the head, right?' Nilan, the South Boston native, told DailyMail.com from his adopted home of Montreal. 'The brain moves inside that cranium. So it's not just from a punch, it's from a lot more than a punch.

'I'm not saying it can't happen in fights and it has,' Nilan continued. 'But I believe that the instances of guys getting really bad concussions comes more from violent body checks than [punches] to the head.'

Cautiously, Nilan refrained from making any assumptions about Simon's condition: 'I don't know if he had [CTE] or not.'

There is some anecdotal evidence that Simon had the disease: His two divorces, a 2017 bankruptcy and doctor-diagnosed depression, anxiety as well as post-traumatic stress disorder are all hallmarks of someone battling CTE.

But for Nilan, and the many researchers studying CTE, it can be hard to decipher between correlation and causation.

'I think for me it's really difficult 'cause I always see people wanting to draw a straight line from hockey fighters to CTE and that's the reason they got it: 'cause they were fighting,' Nilan said.

Nilan admittedly can't speak knowledgably about Simon's decline because he didn't know him very well. His own career was ending in 1992 just as Simon was entering the league as a burly 6-foot-4 winger with long hair and a nasty disposition.

The two did meet at a California gym in the early 2000s ('He was a really nice kid'), but while Nilan wasn't personally close with Simon, he knows what it's like to struggle as an NHL retiree. Only in his case, the issue was addiction to alcohol and prescription drugs.

As for CTE, Nilan doesn't know if he has the disease and it's not something he

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