OT - RIP Rangers enforcer Derek Boogaard

Submitted by clarkiefromcanada on

Good evening everyone,

It seems that New York Rangers enforcer, and generally feared tough guy, Derek Boogaard was found dead in his apartment in Minneapolis on Friday. Boogaard had played five years in the league with the Minnesota Wild before signing with the NYR this past season.

http://sports.nationalpost.com/2011/05/13/derek-boogaard-found-dead-in-…

Boogaard was a native of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan and will be remembered as an absolutely brutal enforcer after his beating of Todd Fedoruk.

RIP Derek Boogaard.

Tagg

May 14th, 2011 at 1:23 AM ^

Its always tough to see anyone at such a young age pass.

I remember watching him a few years back when he was with Minnesota playing the Wings. He was a mountain of a player and by far the biggest guy on the ice.

KJ

May 14th, 2011 at 2:14 PM ^

I remember watching him instigate a huge brawl at the end of a Griffins game when he was with the Houston Aeros. I always thought he was annoying as hell on the ice, but it sounds like he was a good guy off the ice, and that's really what matters.

kdhoffma

May 14th, 2011 at 9:19 AM ^

Very sad... I've heard he was one of the nicer NHl guys off the ice.

We'll have to wait and see if it was connected to head injuries.  He was one of only a handful of guys who were only on an NHL roster for one reason, fighting.  He scored a goal for every 200 PIM... which is crazy considering guys like Probie and Domi were around 1 goal every 20-30 PIM.  By no means do I advocate removing fighting from hockey... but I do think the sport needs to consider not allowing players to be casted into that single role.

megalomanick

May 14th, 2011 at 9:26 AM ^

He was a mountain of a man,  that's for sure. I think it's worth pointing out that he missed about half the season with a concussion. Hopefully his head injury has nothing to do with this sad news.

pz

May 14th, 2011 at 9:32 AM ^

Watched him play for the Wild during his time in Minnesota. 

The fans loved him, and he was a really good guy in the community.

RIP Boogeyman.