Music: {allcanada} Concussion prevention the star of new video

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The issue of head shots and concussions are dominating hockey dialogue, and a brain injury prevention organization thinks it has found a way to address the problem.

ThinkFirst Pensez d'Abord Canada released a video, ThinkFirst SMART HOCKEY, on Tuesday with the goal of educating young players and their families, coaches and officials about the prevention of concussions in hockey.

A public panel discussion was held at Scotiabank Theatre on Tuesday morning, followed by a viewing of the 20-minute video. The discussion was led by spinal cord injury specialist Dr. Charles Tator, six-time world champion hockey player Cassie Campbell-Pascall, Canadian women's national team member Tessa Bonhomme and former NHLer Keith Primeau.

The video features several familiar hockey faces, including John Tavares of the New York Islanders and Patrice Bergeron of the Boston Bruins. While it focuses mostly on the prevention of brain and spinal injuries in hockey, it also addresses what young hockey players should do if they think they have a concussion.

Tator says he wants viewing the video to be compulsory for local hockey leagues.

"We're very excited about the idea of all hockey people seeing this video and our goal is every player, every year."

Bonhomme, the host of the video, says that it is "the frequency of these injuries and the hits that are happening that are absolutely scaring people."

In the video, Bonhomme and Buffalo Sabres defenceman Tyler Myers offer tips on how to prevent brain and spinal injuries — everything from sharpening your skating skills to having your helmet properly fitted by a professional.

Bonhomme says it also comes down to respect.

"No parent and no kid really wants to be the person delivering the hit and no parent or kid wants to be the one receiving it at the other end."

Justin Rizek, 14, can no longer play hockey because of the three concussions he has suffered. He agrees that respect is the most important factor in preventing head injuries.

"I want to see players have more respect and not out there and kill each other," Rizek said. While he doesn't think the video will have an impact on everyone, he believes it will influence the way some players treat each other on the ice.

Primeau, who was forced to retire in 2006 because of concussions, believes education is supremely important when it comes to head injuries.

"Education is the most important thing," he said. "As I said in the discussion panel, I look back on 1997 … I was educated, on full rest for seven days, and I thought, 'Well, that was great, they really understand.' So that taught me how to begin to treat my condition and now we're 14, 15 years later we know that much more, and so we need to continue to educate not only ourselves but our youth."

This panel discussion was held at a time when awareness of concussions and brain injuries in the NHL is at an all-time high. In January, NHL star Sidney Crosby sparked the player safety discussion when he was sidelined with a concussion. Though he has begun skating again, the league's biggest star has not returned to the game.

Amid the head shot controversy, an autopsy performed on the brain of NHL enforcer Bob Probert showed he was suffering from a brain disease before he died in 2010. His brain showed signs of chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, a disease caused by repeated trauma to the brain. CTE can cause memory loss and dementia.

Probert's family members have said they want to use the autopsy results to raise awareness about this disease.

Earlier this month, Zdeno Chara of the Boston Bruins delivered a jaw-dropping hit to Montreal Canadiens' Max Pacioretty.

The severity of Chara's punishment for the hit caused major controversy. It forced the league, which endorses the ThinkFirst SMART HOCKEY video, to answer to players and fans who feel the frequency and severity of head injuries is too high and it is up to the league to fix the problem.

Two weeks ago, the NHL had its annual GM meetings, which focused heavily on player safety including head hits and head injuries.

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman proposed a five-point plan to address the issue, which includes a more thorough examination of players' equipment and a committee to study the issue in depth.