Concussion Lawsuit: Lemieux Scheduled for Deposition

According to the NHL Concussion Litigation website, maintained by the lawyers representing current and former NHL players in their class action lawsuit against the National Hockey League, it contains a November 5th transcript stating Mario Lemieux is scheduled for a deposition on December 17th.

Transcript of Formal Status Conference on November 5, 2015

"We do have another one currently scheduled for December 17th. That's for Mr. Mario Lemieux. He's an owner and current Alternate Governor of the Pittsburgh Penguins. That we'd like to think will go forward. That's still on the calendar. At this point if discovery unfolds the way we hope it does, that will go forward."

Mr. Lemieux's deposition could provide an interesting perspective in the lawsuit as he's a current owner and Alternate Governor while having been a Hall of Fame player in the NHL.

Some publicized comments by Mr. Lemieux could be brought into the discussion at the deposition, especially his statement after the February 11, 2011 game between the Pittsburgh Penguins and New York Islanders that was an embarrassing night for the sport.

Mr. Lemieux's statement:

"Hockey is a tough, physical game, and it always should be. But what happened Friday night on Long Island wasn’t hockey. It was a travesty. It was painful to watch the game I love turn into a sideshow like that.

"The NHL had a chance to send a clear and strong message that those kinds of actions are unacceptable and embarrassing to the sport. It failed.

"We, as a league, must do a better job of protecting the integrity of the game and the safety of our players.  We must make it clear that those kinds of actions will not be tolerated and will be met with meaningful disciplinary action.

"If the events relating to Friday night reflect the state of the league, I need to re-think whether I want to be a part of it."

Head injuries have been a hot topic in the league for quite some time with little action by the league to protect their players in the face of medical studies pointing to the effects of head trauma.

It hasn't been a good week on that front as the NHL's Department of Player Safety decided to suspend Columbus Blue Jackets forward Brandon Dubinsky for just one game because of his cross-check to the back of the neck of Penguins center Sidney Crosby.

The same day as Dubinsky's suspension was announced, two other stick related incidents resulted in no supplemental disciplinary action for cross-checks to the throat and neck of opposing players.

As for the lawsuit, it has generated some embarrassing information as the result of a November 30th TSN report by Rick Westhead that contains redacted emails by Gary Bettman, Colin Campbell and others.

Those redacted emails led CTV's W5 to petition the court to unseal the full emails.

Here's a link to the legal motion filed in a Minnesota court on November 17th.

Note: PensBurgh did attempt to ask Penguins officials for a statement, as of this original report, the team has not provided an official response on the topic. If the team provides a statement, we'll append to the bottom of this article.