A recent study provides compelling evidence that the risk of developing chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) increases cumulatively with each year of ice hockey play, similar to findings observed in American football and rugby league players.

A study by Carolyn A. Emery et al. published in British Journal of Sports Medicine found that injury rates were 61% lower and concussion rates 51% lower in non-elite adolescent hockey leagues that did not permit body-checking than leagues that did.