Commissioner Gary Bettman appeared before a House of Commons subcommittee on sports-related concussions Wednesday, where he noted that a blanket rule that penalizes all head contact could have unintended consequences, as well as touched on the topics of fighting and CTE.

Appearing before the subcommittee on sports-related concussions at Canada’s House of Commons on Wednesday, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said that attempting to penalize any and all head contact would ultimately put an end to bodychecking in the league.

Bettman first addressed the notion of penalizing all head contact during his opening statement to the subcommittee, during which he said that “there are some individuals who have called for a blanket rule prohibiting all hits that result in head contact, whether intentional or accidental, including some who have testified before this subcommittee.” He added “such a rule is very easy to propose. It is difficult, if not impossible, to implement and apply in practice.”

The reason for that, said Bettman, is that putting in place a ban on all head contact would be difficult to “consistently and fairly enforce,” adding that it would be particularly difficult “if the NHL is to be maintained as a physical, contact sport.”

It was later in his testimony that the subject was broached again, this time in reference to the physical nature of the game. Bettman called bodychecking and physical contact an “essential element” that makes the NHL “exciting, appealing, entertaining and it’s something that our players think is an important element of the game, as well.” Adding to that, Bettman stated that the NHL’s current rule on hits to the head, Rule 48, which states that “contact with an opponent’s head where the head was the main point of contact and such contact to the head was avoidable is not permitted” has reduced the percentage of concussions that results from head contact.

When asked, however, if there is not a way to remove or penalize all head contact, Bettman answered that while the subject has been discussed consistently and such rules exist in “other leagues at a lower level,” the NHL has tasked itself with attempting to find a balance “to maintain the physicality of the game and reduce, to the extent possible, head contact.” The issue with eliminating all head contact, said Bettman, is that it could result in the league seeing a decline in physical play.

“Players (are) different heights, different weights, different skills,” said Bettman, before giving an example that used himself as the potential target of a bodycheck. “If you eliminate all head contact, every time a taller player, which most players would be, would check me, there would have to be head contact, which meant that if that would result in a penalty every time, there would be no more bodychecking.”

Also discussed at length during the testimony was fighting’s place in the NHL and the link between concussions and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).

As it pertains to the latter, Bettman was pressed at one point about the number of fights that remain in the game despite the decline in fisticuffs the NHL has seen in recent years. Citing back the statistic that Bettman provided that 85 percent of games this season were fight-free, Liberal MP Dr. Doug Eyolfson said that 15 percent is still too much and questioned why the NHL doesn’t completely remove fighting from the league, particularly when other governing bodies, such as the International Ice Hockey Federation, don’t allow fighting.

Bettman responded that the league itself cannot mandate the rule change, and said the majority of players surveyed in a poll conducted “four or five years ago” didn’t want to see a change to the rules in fighting.

“With all due respect, under the federal labor laws, particularly in the United States, the rules of our game are mandatory subjects of collective bargaining,” Bettman said. “And with respect to the elimination, it’s interesting to say we tolerate it, but it’s a penalty. The answer is it is penalized.”

On the topic of concussions and their link to CTE, Bettman also denied that there is any concrete evidence linking concussions and the degenerative brain disease.

“I don’t believe there has been anything – based on what I have been told, and if anybody has information to the contrary, we’d be happy to hear it – other than some anecdotal evidence, there has not been that conclusive link,” Bettman said.

Bettman, as well as deputy commissioner Bill Daly, who was also in attendance, were the last to testify in front of the subcommittee, who are expected to submit a report on their findings in the coming weeks.

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