Dan LaCouture Opens Up About Concussion Troubles

Dan LaCouture’s troubles began, he said, on Jan. 5, 2004, when one of his Rangers teammates got into trouble at Madison Square Garden.

LaCouture described it as “that concussion I had at M.S.G. in 2004 against Calgary, when I split my head open on the ice in the fight against Robyn Regehr sticking up for Jed Ortmeyer, who got hit from behind.”

The incident is referred to briefly in a 110-page complaint against the N.H.L. filed in United States District Court in Manhattan on Wednesday on behalf of LaCouture and eight other former players. The lawsuit is the latest accusing the league of fostering a culture of violence and doing too little to prevent traumatic brain injuries.