The NHL is overhauling its concussion monitoring system.
Deputy commissioner Bill Daly said the league will have four concussion spotters watching all games from a centralized location in either Toronto or New York, as well as spotters at each game to check for visible symptoms. Those spotters will have the authority to have players removed from games.
''It's a pretty major revamp from what it was last year,'' Daly said Wednesday. ''We're going to have both those (remote and on-site) spotters, plus you have the clubs' medical staffs. We're just building in reinforcements, really, to make the system work better.''
Previously, there had been team-affiliated concussion spotters in each arena and they could recommend to medical staffs but not require players be removed from a game.
Daly said the new concussion policy goes into effect for the eight-team World Cup of Hockey, which begins Saturday in Toronto, and that the NHL will release more details closer to the start of the regular season.
''Players get removed for visible signs, and that'll be mandatory removal and that'll be done at the league level,'' Daly said.
Daly said the concussion spotters will work out of the department of player safety and report to the chief medical consultant and lawyer Julie Grand.
The NHL is in the midst of a concussion lawsuit filed by former players alleging that it had the resources to better prevent head trauma, failed to properly warn players of such risks and promoted violent play that led to their injuries.
