You may have already read the piece that former tough guy Mike Peluso penned for the Globe and Mail a few days ago.
If not, Peluso (pictured, left) wrote that the concussions he suffered during his career have left him with serious health concerns today. Now 49, he’s one of the former players suing the league over concussions.
In addition to taking legal action against the NHL, Peluso has also taken direct aim at the New Jersey Devils, for whom he played almost 200 games and fought numerous times.
“I have a problem with the Devils right now with the fact that a lot of this could have been prevented,” Peluso said in an interview with NJ Advance Media. “I take four Dilantin (medication to control seizures) on even days and five Dilantin on odd days.
“The seizure medication is brutal, but you have to take it to survive. I pray I don’t have another seizure. I just don’t understand why someone didn’t pull me aside and tell me: ‘This is where you’ll be if you do this role. You’re welcome to do it, but these are the consequences.’ I would have never done it.”
There are more quotes in the story, many of them extremely critical of GM Lou Lamoriello, in particular for chalking up Peluso’s seizures to “nutrition and dehydration.” (See the bottom of this New York Times article from 1994.)
Peluso also believes that the reason he was traded by the Devils was “because there was a little scrum and I guess I didn’t jump in for Scott Stevens against Craig Berube.”