Dr. Charles Tator discusses spinal injuries with a model of a human spine with some research fellows in the reserach laboratory of the Krembil Neuroscience Centre located in Toronto Western Hospital in this 2004 file photo.Louie Palu/The Globe and Mail
Earlier this year, Dr. Charles Tator was included in Globe Sports' Power50 for his role in spurring discussion over head shots in professional hockey. The concussion expert believes coaches at all levels should recognize and manage concussions and he has hard words for hockey: A season-long suspension for a head shot should be followed with a lifetime ban from all organized hockey leagues if the player does it a second time. Late last year, his harsh words for Don Cherry (and his advocacy of rock 'em, sock 'em hockey) elicited a strong response from the Hockey Night in Canada host. But lately, Mr. Cherry and Dr. Tator have found themselves on the same side of the debate as Mr. Cherry denounced the NHL last week for not suspending the Pittsburgh Penguins' Matt Cooke for his hit on the Bruins' Marc Savard. Join Dr. Tator here at 1 p.m. Thursday as he weighs in on professional hockey, head shots and what the NHL should do next.
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Dr. Tator is a professor in the Department of Surgery, at the University of Toronto, and a neurosurgeon at the Krembil Neuroscience Centre, Toronto Western Hospital. In 2000, he received the Order of Canada, and in 2009 he was inducted into the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame. In 1992, he founded ThinkFirst, Canada, a national brain and spinal cord injury foundation whose mission is to reduce the incidence of catastrophic injuries in Canada.
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