Ex-NHL Enforcer Probert Had Brain Disorder

(NewsCore) - Former Detroit Red Wings enforcer Bob Probert, who died of heart failure last July at age 45, suffered from a chronic brain disorder, researchers at Boston University (BU) announced Thursday.

Probert's brain was donated to the Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy at BU, where researchers discovered evidence of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), according to the New York Times.

The disorder is suspected of having connections to symptoms such as depression, memory loss, erratic behavior and dementia.

The same disease was found in the brain tissue of 20 deceased professional football players, prompting the NFL to crack down last season on hits to the head.

"How much is the hockey and how much is the fighting, we don't really know," said Dr. Robert Cantu, co-director of the Boston University center and a prominent neurosurgeon in the area of head trauma in sports.

"We haven't definitely established that the skills of hockey as a sport lead to a certain percentage of participants developing CTE. But it can happen to hockey players, and while they're still relatively young."

Probert played 16 brutal years as an enforcer in the NHL, mostly for the Red Wings.

He was known for his many fights and overly aggressive behavior on the ice, which led to him racking up the fifth-most career penalty minutes.

The findings could prompt the NHL to reexamine its longtime reluctance to ban fighting. Probert was also a heavy drinker dating back to his days growing up in Windsor, Ontario, and he was suspended for the entire 1994-95 season by the NHL for cocaine use.

While not addressing Probert's substance abuse specifically, Cantu said "as of now, the medical community is not aware that any drug abuse, including alcohol, leads to" the onset of CTE.

Read more: New York Times