Prof. Timothy Dewhirst, Department of Marketing and Consumer Studies, wrote a commentary in the Toronto Star about ongoing concussion concerns in the NHL.

Dewhirst noted it’s been five years since defenceman Steve Montador died at the age of 35 following repeated concussions. Montador was diagnosed posthumously with CTE, a degenerative brain condition linked to repeated head hits.

Dewhirst said the NHL commissioner’s position downplaying the link between hockey hits and CTE is “reminiscent of the tobacco industry when scientific and popular articles began presenting links between smoking and lung cancer.”

Dewhirst is senior research fellow in marketing and public policy in the Gordon S. Lang School of Business and Economics. His research expertise includes sports, arts and entertainment marketing.