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NHL responds to concussion lawsuit, says players should have ‘put two and two together’

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NEW YORK, NY - SEPTEMBER 13: Commissioner Gary Bettman of the National Hockey League speaks to the media at Crowne Plaza Times Square on September 13, 2012 in New York City. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

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The players should have known the risks themselves.

That’s the NHL’s response to the concussion lawsuit, originally filed in November of 2013, that alleged the league “knowingly and fraudulently concealed” the “risks of head injuries” from its players.

From TSN’s Rick Westhead:

The league says that players who were forced to retire early because of concussions and other head injuries ought to have been able to “put two and two together,” thanks to a number of newspaper and magazine stories and other news reports.

“Publicly available information related to concussions and their long-term effects, coupled with the events that had transpired – i.e., the players incurring head injuries – should have allowed (players) to put two and two together,” the NHL says in its court filings, which were obtained by TSN.

The league also argued, per TSN, that the players took too long to file the lawsuit and that the players failed to prove that the NHL purposefully concealed information related to the long-term risks associated with concussions.

Related: Do the players suing the NHL over concussions have a case?