New Jersey Devils defenseman Ben Lovejoy has pledged his brain to the Concussion Legacy Foundation for CTE research, becoming the first active NHL player to do so.
"Hockey has been so good to me. Hockey has helped me make a ton of friends, travel the country and the world, get into an Ivy league school, and has given me an amazing job that has paid me really well for 11 years," Lovejoy said Thursday. "For 33 years now, my life has revolved, almost exclusively, around hockey. I have pledged to donate my brain to the Concussion Legacy Foundation to give back to the sport that has given me so much, with the hope that it can continue to get safer."
Lovejoy, who has played in 432 career NHL games with the Penguins, Ducks and Devils, said he has dealt with "very little" head trauma in his career.
Several former NHL players have already pledged their brains to the CLF.
There is an ongoing lawsuit filed by more than 100 former NHL players against the league over concussions suffered while they were playing. The plaintiffs say that the NHL did not do enough to ensure player safety.