Daniel Carcillo makes explosive accusations against the Blackhawks regarding the treatment of Steve Montador.

Carcillo unloads on the Blackhawks.

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 2 years ago
Daniel Carcillo makes explosive accusations against the Blackhawks regarding the treatment of Steve Montador.
Kostas Lymperopoulos/CSM/Zuma

The Chicago Blackhawks have been dealing with something of a public relations nightmare as of late, one that has been entirely of their own making, and unfortunately for the Blackhawks it would appear as though the torrent of bad publicity has not yet come to an end.

On Saturday former Chicago Blackhawks forward Daniel Carcillo levied some rather damning accusations against his former team, accusations that relate to the passing of former Blackhawks defenseman Steve Montador. The story of Steve Montador is without question one of the darkest chapters in the history of the National Hockey League but, if the comments made by Carcillo today are to be believed, it may be a darker one than we had originally believed.

Here is what Carcillo had to say on the topic of Montador, note that some minor edits were made for clarity:

 His name was Steve Montador

He was my best friend

He was cleared for 19 concussions in the NHL

He was cleared for 4 concussions in a span of 12 weeks while we played together on the Chicago Blackhawls.

His 16th, 17th, 18th & 19th brain injury in just 571 NHL games…

The Blackhawks couldn’t get Steve cleared after his 19th concussion

They were trying everything to get him to feel good enough to sign his fit to play, but were unsuccessful until he made a decision, on his own, to seek out another opinion & treatment option…

Luckily, during the lockdown, Steve and I experienced recovery and some relief from our repetitive concussions by going to see a special man

So he decided to go again, against the advice of the team and management

I remember sitting there with him the night before he left…

….crying and talking about the possible repercussions from the team if he leaves without permission

It wasn’t an easy decision

But Steve was strong enough to leave and seek out treatment that he knew had worked for him and for Sidney Crosby in 2011

Once he came back after 2 weeks of treatment, he was better

He was able to pass an unapproved, non peer reviewed exertion test that the Blackhawks implement for all players to pass before returning to play

Once he did that, the team asked him to sign his fit to play……

This is where you see the true colors of management running the Blackhawks organization

Within hours of signing his fit to play, the Hawks sent Steve down to the AHL club

He wasn’t a black ace or allowed with or around our team during the 2013 Stanley Cup run…

He was completely black balled for seeking out treatment outside of the teams medical staff

Treatment that got him better 

Treatment that got Crosby better

There’s more to this story that I can’t share bc of litigation

Steve was the type of person and teammate that sacrificed himself for the good of the team and who went out of his way to make you feel special and wanted

What the Hawks did to him I will never forget

It crushed his spirit 

It killed him

I miss you everyday my brother

I know you are guiding me still

Like today, I can feel your presence at times and will continue to honor your legacy

The tone of Carcillo's comments towards the Blackhawks here is very serious indeed and the fact that he directly indicates that there is more he is barred from revealing due to legal proceedings only serves to add to the severity of that tone. It must be noted however that Carcillo has become an outspoken critic, one could even go so far as to call him an activist, of both the NHL and the culture behind the sport of hockey since his NHL career came to end.

You can read the lengthy tweet thread here if you wish to do so.

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