NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman says he hasn't seen any evidence linking long-term brain damage and multiple blows to the head while playing hockey.
Speaking before a House of Commons committee in Ottawa, he says it would be impossible to ban all hits to the head and maintain hockey as a physical game as it is today.
Larger players would inevitably land blows on smaller players' heads in the normal course of play, says Bettman.
He says that hockey is safer for players and different, in terms of physical contact from football, where there are repeated blows to players' heads.
The special committee of MPs is looking at the issue of concussions, including options for treatment, prevention and what, if anything, the federal government should be doing about sports-related head injuries.
— With files from The Canadian Press