REGINA – The unexpected death of Regina’s Derek Boogaard has sent reverberations throughout the NHL, the hockey world and his community of friends.
The Minneapolis Star Tribune reported that Boogaard, who was 28, was found dead Friday in his apartment in Minneapolis. According to the New York Daily News, foul play is not suspected and an investigation is underway.
"Obviously, you don’t want to believe it,” said Josh Harding, a fellow Regina product and a former teammate of Boogaard’s with the NHL’s Minnesota Wild. "It’s something you can’t prepare for – especially how young he is and how much of a life he had ahead of him.
"He’s a gentle giant. If you just watched him on the ice, he had that mean, rough, tough background. But that wasn’t him. He loved his teammates. He loved his family. He loved everybody. He didn’t want any bad for anybody. He had your back with everything. It’s a major loss to everybody that knew him. He’s really going to be missed.”
Regina Pats director of scouting Todd Ripplinger also reacted with disbelief after the sad news surfaced Friday night.
"Is it true?” Ripplinger said. "I’m in shock. I don’t know what happened, but my prayers go out to his family.
"He was a great young man. I knew his family really well. They’re good people.”
Boogaard spent the 2010-11 NHL season with the New York Rangers after spending the previous five big-league campaigns with the Wild. Before that, the 6-foot-7, 260-pound left winger played in the WHL with the Pats, Prince George Cougars and Medicine Hat Tigers.
The Pats, for whom Boogaard played five games during the 1999-2000 season, placed him on their protected list after Ripplinger watched him play bantam AA hockey one night in Melfort. Later that year, during a rather eventful scrimmage, Ripplinger aptly referred to the already-intimidating youngster as The Boogeyman.
"It caught on and everybody called him that,” Ripplinger noted.
"I was at the camp where Boogey fought everybody at Pats camp, trying to make a name for himself,” Harding added. "It only makes you realize how precious life is. I send my thoughts and prayers out to his family, his friends, his teammates – everybody that knew him – because he was an incredible guy.”
Boogaard played 255 games with the Wild while emerging as one of the league’s foremost tough guys.
"Derek was a fan favourite during his five seasons with the Wild and will be greatly missed here in Minnesota and throughout the NHL,” the Wild said in a prepared statement. "Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Boogaard family during this tragic time of loss.”
In July, Boogaard left the Wild as a free agent to sign a four-year, $6.5-million US contract with the Rangers. A concussion, sustained in a Dec. 9 fight, limited him to 22 games, in which he had one goal, one assist and 45 penalty minutes.
"Derek was an extremely kind and caring individual," Rangers president and general manager Glen Sather said in a prepared statement. "He was a very thoughtful person, who will be dearly missed by all those who knew him."
Rangers teammate Michael Del Zotto added on Twitter: "The world lost an amazing friend and teammate!”
In 277 NHL games, Boogaard had three goals, 13 assists and 589 penalty minutes. He had one goal, one assist and 45 penalty minutes as a first-year Ranger.
As an NHLer, the community-minded Boogaard was conspicuous off the ice due to his involvement with numerous charitable ventures. In partnership with his younger brother, Aaron, he also launched the Boogaard Fighting Camp in order to teach kids how to protect themselves with their gloves off.
Although Boogaard was well-known as a fighter, he was much different as a person.
"Derek was just so the opposite of how he was on the ice,” Pats president Brent Parker said. "When he was off the ice, he was just a quiet, soft-spoken guy who always had time for everybody. It might seem strange saying that when he did what he did for a living, but he really was very soft-spoken and well-liked by everybody.”
Boogaard was Minnesota’s seventh-round selection (202nd overall) in the 2001 NHL entry draft.
"Unreal guy. Just a really big teddy bear," former teammate and current Wild goaltender Niklas Backstrom told Michael Russo of the Star Tribune. "Outside the rink, he didn’t want bad for anyone."
Two of Boogaard’s siblings are also well-known in sporting circles. Aaron Boogaard played in the WHL with the Calgary Hitmen and Tri-City Americans before spending the next four seasons in the minor leagues. He spent the 2010-11 season with the Central Hockey League’s Laredo Bucks. Krysten Boogaard recently completed her senior season with the University of Kansas Jayhawks women’s basketball team.
Derek Boogaard is also survived by his parents, Len and Joanne, and an older brother, Ryan.
Comments
Want to discuss? Please read our Commenting Policy first.