Derek Boogaard

At 28 years old, Derek Boogaard has this physical status:

Derek Leendert Boogaard (BOH-gard; later BOO-gard; June 23, 1982 – May 13, 2011) was a professional ice hockey left winger for the Minnesota Wild and the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League (NHL). He grew up in several communities as the son of a Mountie, and he was known primarily as a warrior and enforcer throughout his career, from junior hockey to the pros.

His fighting prowess earned him the nicknames "Boogeyman" and "The Mountie," making him a fan favorite among fans.

In 2007, he was named second most offensive player in the league, behind Georges Laraque, who attributed part to his youth, including the cheekbone fractures, that had to be repaired with metal plates. When recovering from a concussion, Boogaard died at 28 from an accidental opioid and alcohol overdose.

He had a chronic encephalopathy more severe than that seen in some former prisoners who had died in middle age, according to a posthumous analysis of his brain.

The news came shortly after two other hockey enforcers died, both of whom were under the age of 40 and had similar health problems.

The three deaths sparked controversy in the hockey community over the challenges faced by enforcers and their place in the sport.

His parents filed a lawsuit against the NHL and the players' union in protest over his death.

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Playing career

Boogaard was thrown into the opposing bench one night while playing for the Melfort Mustangs, and his team was leading by a large margin. "He'd gone ballistic," his dad, who was in attendance. "It was something I hadn't seen before." After getting out of his uniform, Boogaard was dismissed from the game, and he sat next to his father in the stands. They were later approached by scouts from the Regina Pats of the Western Hockey League, who were later contacted. Boogaard's courage and offered him the opportunity to play junior hockey with the team, his first step toward winning the NHL.

By the time he started his junior hockey career, Boogaard knew that if he wanted to make it to the NHL, he'd only be able to do so as an enforcer, since fighting was his strongest talent. In his first scrimmage with the Caps, he was confronted by another key name on the team. Boogaard's first blow cracked the other player's nose.

His parents divorced, but his parents lived in Regina to be close to him. Boogaard's career was off to a rocky start after he came out of his first match against the Moose Jaw Warriors. As a result, he was reassigned to the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League's lower division, Regina Pats. He was in attendance in the 1998–99 season, scoring two goals and five points in 35 games with 166 penalty minutes (PIM).

Boogaard's season was not a good one. He begged the coach to let him play during a tournament in Calgary, but it was unprofitable. He quit after the game, and his mother recalled that she cried all the way home as she went to pick him up. He and some friends one night got into a bar fight, which culminated in the beating of seven men around the age of 30.

He had reached his full adult height of 6 foot 7 inches (200 cm) by the next season. During the four scrimmages, the Pats called him back to training camp, and he fought in 12 fights. He appeared in five games with the team, winning no points and 17 PIM. He was traded to the Prince George Cougars early in his rookie season after losing a fight against the Kelowna Rockets in a game.

He suited up for 20 games, gaining no points and his third-highest penalty minutes total on the team in 149 during his rookie season. Eric Godard, a future NHL enforcer with the New York Islanders, lost his first battle against him. Later, he wrote, "It was a long year for me." "I had trouble with everything." He had a difficult time following rules and skipped classes at school. In a game against the Tri-City Americans, he sustained a fractured jaw and was sent home to Regina to recover. He was supposed to lose weight due to his liquid diet by his jaw wired shutting, but he gained it when he found ways to get food through wire gaps.

He returned to the Cougars for a second season in 2000-01. He considered quitting hockey again during training camp. He finally found a host family he could get along with and started winning his battles on the ice. He recovered from losses from previous seasons, including one in which he had been hospitalized. Prince George fans began chanting his name at games, and one poll crowned him the worst player in the WHL's Western Conference.

In 61 games he played a goal and nine points. His team-leading 245 PIM was the eighth highest figure in the league. Boogaard scored a goal in six games in the playoffs, while still collecting 30 PIM. "I don't think I ever saw our rink [in the playoffs] or Derek [as the time he scored that goal [in the playoffs]," one of his assistant coaches said. "I had the best feeling I had in the last two years," Boogaard said. In the 2001 NHL Entry Draft, Boogaard was drafted in the seventh round, 202nd overall, after the season.

Boogaard played for two games with the Cougars in 2001–02, receiving no points and 16 PIM. He was then traded to the Medicine Hat Tigers.

Boogaard's 2001–02 season with the Medicine Hat Tigers culminated in his appearance in 46 games with the team, scoring a goal and nine points, while still having 178 PIM, third highest on the team.

He played in 27 games with Medicine Hat, winning a goal and three points, while registering 65 PIM.

Boogaard has signed a professional deal with the Minnesota Wild, and the Minnesota IceGators of the ECHL have signed Boogaard to the Louisiana IceGators of the ECHL, completing the 2002–03 season. His teachers were told not to worry about him as an enforcer. He didn't expect him to play in the NHL, but they did admire his work ethic. One of them later told The New York Times, "Give him credit." "This guy will make his way to the NHL."

Boogaard had a goal and three points in 33 games with Louisiana, as well as a team's high 240 PIM. Boogaard had no points and no penalty minutes in two playoff games. He continued his skating and boxing lessons off the rink. He excelled at running up hills and demonstrated his skills, with both coaches and on his own.

During his time in the minors, chronic pain from older injuries grew. He suffered from an old collarbone fracture, which caused his shoulder pain. His back pain was so bad that he could not lace his own skates one morning. So that they could cope with such agony and the hectic schedule, the team doctors routinely administered various medications to players. Boogaard is said to have profited from this.

He was drafted to the Houston Aeros of the AHL last season, where he had no goals and four points in 53 games. The Aeros were led by his 207 PIM. In the playoffs, appeared in two games as an assistant, but not in the playoffs, where they were posting 16 PIM.

Boogaard returned to the Aeros in 2004-05 as a result of the team's lockout and five goals in 56 games, as well as leading the team with 259 PIM. Boogaard had no points in five playoff games and put up 38 PIM.

As he was winning his fights, his fame as an enforcer in Houston began to grow. On the arena's video board, the team ran replays of his fights, dubbed "Boogeyman Cam" in honor of its player. A bobblehead of Boogaard was given to the public, complete with bobbling fists. Boogaard was their team's most valuable player due to his intimidating presence, according to an opposing coach.

In the 2005-06 season, Boogaard made his NHL debut. When coach Jacques Lemaire saw the same threatening effect on other teams his opponents, as well as the young player's propensity for winning fights, he took the Wild roster out of training camp.

In a 6–3 victory over the Calgary Flames, the rookie first skated on October 5, 2005, scoring no points in 3:58 of ice time. He will have his first assist, fight, and goal in less than two weeks of the season. In a 5–3 loss to the Vancouver Canucks on October 14, 2005, Wes Walz assisted on a goal. He was in his first fight two days later, knocking Kip Brennan of the Anaheim Ducks to the ice. He scored his first NHL goal on October 19, 2005, defeating San Jose Sharks goaltender Evgeni Nabokov 6–1. Boogaard's rookie season in the NHL saw him score six goals and six points, while the Wild was top of the pack with 158 PIM in 65 games.

Boogaard played in 48 games with the Wild, earning an assist and leading the team with 120 PIM in 2006–07. Todd Fedoruk's cheekbone was broken so badly in another game against Anaheim that it had to be surgically rebuilt, with metal plates and mesh, adversely impacting Fedoruk's career. In a 2–1 loss to the Anaheim Ducks on April 11, 2007, he made his NHL debut on April 11, 2007, losing by no points. In a 4–1 victory over the Ducks on April 17, 2007, Boogaard earned his first playoff point while also providing an assist. He finished the playoffs with four games played, one assistant, and 20 PIM.

The two teams were bickering and taunting each other near the conclusion of one of the Ducks games, with Minnesota leading. The fans chanted Boogaard's name during a timeout. He had not participated in the game at all, and Lemaire had him brought in. He simply skated in front of the Anaheim bench and smiled. The audience erupted in applause. "If the roof wasn't screwed down," his mother explained, "it would have flown off." "He didn't have to fight, he didn't have to get hurt, and he didn't have to hurt anyone," he said. That was the best I've seen. He could go out and skate around" rather than going out and skating around. Boogaard's family and friends are a fan of a video clip detailing the incident.

Boogaard played in 34 games with the Wild from 2007-08, losing no points, but the team's highest total number was 74 PIM, which was the fourth highest total on the team. Fedoruk, who had been so sick in the season before, has signed with the Wild, becoming a teammate and mentor. Boogaard himself, his No. 661, became a popular player off the ice. 24 jerseys have become one of the team's best-selling products. A team executive said, "It was the tenacity of his brand and the compassion of his character." Boogaard was pointless in six games in the playoffs, despite putting up 24 PIM, the second most adamant on the team.

He appeared in 51 games with Minnesota between 2008 and 2009, receiving three assists and leading the team with 87 points. On October 16, 2008, he gave the Florida Panthers his first game since being given an assist on February 8, 2007, also against the Florida Panthers. It was a 49-game pointless drought.

He had started taking prescription pain relief for back pains earlier this season. Percocet was also prescribed after two surgeries later this year. Boogaard used to take extra amounts of the pills for them to have any effect, according to his brother Aaron. In a few days, he'd go through 30 pills in a couple of days." To be healthy, he'd have to go from 8 to ten at a time.

He discovered that the Wild's staff doctors did not know who had written down who had given what and eventually obtained prescriptions for 11 different drugs, the bulk of which contained hydrocodone, such as Vicodin. He also went to a downtown Minneapolis sports bar where customers who recognized him bought him drinks. He purchased thousands of dollars in additional prescription pills from a different acquaintance. He would often take eight OxyContin tablets at once, chewing them to reduce the drug's time-release formula. Aaron, his brother, who lived with Boogaard during the off-season, would often conceal the pills.

He developed an addiction and skipped training camp before the 2009–10 season. He was recovering from a concussion, according to the team, but in Southern California, he was actually at a drug rehabilitation center. He returned five games to the season after beating David Koci of the Colorado Avalanche in his first fight.

Although Boogaard's appearance had not changed, his personality had, according to friends, teammates, mentor, and family. "He just happened to be...a blank face," John Scott recalled. He fell asleep at odd hours and was late for meetings and workouts. Other players were told not to divulge their own prescription medications with him, according to the team.

Boogaard played in 57 games this season, his highest figure since his rookie season in 2005–06. Boogaard scored four points and a team high of 105 PIM. After a knee-on-knee hit against Edmonton Oilers forward Ryan Jones on March 7, 2010, Boogaard was suspended for two games.

The Wild also suggested to trade him to other clubs after the season. Boogaard became an unrestricted free agent. The Wild Wild offered to double his pay, but other clubs may have more. Each of the Oilers and New York Rangers earned $1.5 million per year. His family wanted him to sign with Edmonton so he'd be closer to them, but instead he played in New York. "It's one of the best cities to be in, and when you're out there, you're always on center stage," Boogaard told the Minneapolis Star Tribune. He joined his new team for a four-year, $6.5 million contract, making it a lucrative proposition for an enforcer.

Boogaard's official weight was revealed to his new team at 300 pounds (140 kg), 40 pounds (18 kg) over his height. The Rangers feared that his service would be severely injured in combats and that he might be seriously wounded. However, he had calmed fears about his first goal since his rookie season and winning matches within a month of the new season.

In a 6–3 victory over the Buffalo Sabres, he made his Rangers debut on October 9, 2010, scoring no points. He assisted with a Brian Boyle goal against the Toronto Maple Leafs in a 4–3 loss, his first time as a Ranger. In early November, he defeated Jody Shelley of the Philadelphia Flyers in a fight and scored on Michal Neuvirth of the Washington Capitals in a 5–3 loss, snapping a 234-game scoring drought. As he defeated Edmonton's Steve MacIntyre, Rangers' fans chanted his name in the next home game. MacIntyre broke his nose in a second match during the tournament, possibly causing Boogaard another concussion.

In a match with Ottawa Senator Matt Carkner, Boogaard sustained a season-ending concussion. Carkner came first and Boogaard avoided striking first and then looking away rather than retaliating with blows of his own. "I noticed he didn't stop fighting and I took him down and landed on top," Carkner said after the game. "It's good to take down a big man like that."

Boogaard played in 22 games with the Rangers, scoring a goal and two points, and registering 45 PIM. The team attributed his absence to a shoulder injury, later adding that he was suffering from headaches. He remained a recluse in his midtown Manhattan apartment after suffering post-concussion syndrome.

He was told not to go to the rink because the sight could cause nausea. Every day, the Rangers delivered a balanced meal, but Boogaard often skipped it in favour of fast food. Once a week, he rode into Huntington, California, to illegally buy thousands of dollars worth of the same prescription medications he was addicted to from a drug store. Boogaard cries in his arms several times when his father visited him in January.

Other visitors, old friends who had come to see him play and sightsee earlier in the season, no longer did. He became ill in his apartment and started charging high phone bills calling people, some of whom he hadn't talked to in years. There are 13,724 separate text messages on his 222-page cell phone bill for February 2011.

Many who did not arrive noticed the most striking changes in his personality. He went from mania to depression, and he didn't take care of himself. The likeable qualities that had endeared him to Minneapolis fans were less evident. His increasing memory lapses were the result of all the punches he had taken in the previous.

In March, he returned to the ice for light workouts, but he collapsed while skating within days. The Rangers sent him back to California for recovery. Aaron Boogaard, who visited his brother there, said the two often exercised and relaxed on the beach, though Derek skipped meetings or therapy sessions. Boogaard spent $32,000 in two weeks, including $1,200 on dinner one night and $5,000 renting a Porsche. At the time, he was on vacation, according to friends who called him. During a break, he travelled to New York, bought more pills and carried them to his Minnesota apartment.

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