NHL asks B.C. psychologist for ex-player’s medical records for lawsuit

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The NHL has asked the B.C. Supreme Court to order a psychologist to provide medical records for dead ex-player Steve Montador, and be questioned by its lawyers.

The B.C. action is a subset of the wrongful death lawsuit in the U.S. by Montador’s father.

Montador, a Vancouver native whose 10-year NHL career spanned six hockey clubs, died in 2015 at the age of 35. The former defenceman had spoken openly about his post-career battle with depression and guessed he had suffered a dozen concussions in his final three seasons.

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The lawsuit, filed by Paul Montador on behalf of his son’s estate, alleges the league promotes and profits from violence, while not warning players of brain injury risks.

It is scheduled to be heard in Cook County Circuit Court in Chicago on March 27, 2025, it was announced this week, according to TSN.

In a response to the lawsuit, the NHL filed the B.C. petition seeking all communications and documents between Montador and Gisele Bourgeois during the 15 years she acted as his psychologist and performance coach, according to the petition.

Specifically, it seeks anything related to substance use, his physical health, including injuries, his mental health, the examination of his brain, concussions or other head injuries and “the purported long-term risks or effects of such injuries,” his NHL experience, events leading up to his death, his behaviour after his hockey career and his plans for the future.

It also requests any communication or documents she had with him relating to hockey-player health and safety, including rules, protocols and policies in the NHL, and fighting in hockey, including in the NHL, it said.

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The petition also requests she produce most of the same information between her and any family member of Montador that is relevant to the U.S. case.

The petition states Bourgeois, who has a permanent address in Vernon, lives in Illinois with Paul Montador.

She is one of several individuals being petitioned to provide documents for the U.S. case, according to the petition.

Paul Montador’s lawsuit alleges the NHL’s “purported misrepresentations and alleged promotion of a culture of violence” caused his son’s concussions, memory issues, sleep disturbances, chronic pain, a substance abuse problem, photosensitivity, mood and behavioural changes, decreased appetite, anxiety and depression during and after his NHL career.

And it also said that his son developed chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, which contributed to his death in Toronto on Feb. 15, 2015.

The lawsuit alleges Steve Montador suffered at least 11 concussions in the NHL during his 14-year career, during which he played for Calgary, Florida, Anaheim, Boston, Buffalo and Chicago before he retired in 2013, according to TSN.

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The law firm representing his estate, Corboy and Demetrio, states on its website a brain study by the Canadian Sports Concussion Project at Toronto Western Hospital confirmed he had “widespread presence” of CTE.

His brain was “decaying due to the head hits he endured during his NHL career,” his lawyer said in the online post.

The website also listed other lawsuits the law firm filed on behalf of deceased professional sports players it said died suffering the effects of CTE, including the NHL’s Len Boogaard and the NFL’s Dave Duerson and Forrest Blue.

The NHL in its response to the lawsuit said Steve Montador had problems with alcohol and drugs before he played his first NHL game and that he agreed to assume the risks despite being warned about playing after repeated concussions by team doctors, according to TSN.

With files from Postmedia News 

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