Doesn't matter how good the equipment is, it's your body which is handicapped from the outset. It's because your brain floats in the cerebrospinal fluid, there's no way to effectively "anchor" your brain from crashing around in your head during concussions and hard hits.
Anybody playing contact sports is at risk, and even sports you don't think of as contact sports are at risk as well. Baseball's not considered a contact sport, but you see concussions there all the time. The problem in all of these sports is the players are getting bigger and the sport is moving faster. I still remember Wayne Gretzky talking about how we finally decided to retire. He was talking with his father, who asked him if he was going to play one more year. This was his response:
"Dad, I can't compete anymore. The players are getting bigger and faster every year." when Wayne retired, he was 6' and 185lbs. \
The AVERAGE hockey player nowadays is closer to 6'3" and is well over 200lbs. The LA Kings famously had a line where all three of their forwards were 6'3" and weighed 220lbs the year they won the Stanley Cup in 2012.
Take a look at their roster - they only had 4 guys under 6': http://www.hockey-reference.com/teams/LAK/2012.html