On the ice, Derek Boogaard was intimidation personified. He made his name with his fists, first in the Western Hockey League and later in the National Hockey League.
But, away from the rink, the former Prince George Cougars forward was a six-foot-seven, 258-pound softy who would do anything for anyone.
"He was one of my best friends," former Cougar Devin Wilson said Saturday from New York, where he and Boogaard had recently purchased an upscale condo and were about to become roommates. "Anything you ever needed, he always wanted to go above and beyond what anyone else would do. He was always so helpful. He was just an amazing guy. There are not too many people that I've met in my life that are like him. He was the biggest teddy bear ever."
Boogaard, a Regina product who played for the Cougars from 1999 to 2001, was found dead in his Minneapolis home by family members on Friday night. He was 28 years old. An autopsy was performed Saturday, but his cause of death may not be known for weeks.
Boogaard was drafted by the NHL's Minnesota Wild in 2001 and skated for the club for five seasons. He signed a US $6.5-million, four-year contract with the New York Rangers last July but, because of a shoulder injury and a concussion, appeared in just 22 games this season.
Wilson said Boogaard was in Minneapolis, spending time with brothers Aaron and Ryan, who had come for a long-awaited visit.
"It was the first night with all three of them together in Minneapolis [Thursday] night," Wilson said. "He was supposed to get back [to New York] on the 27th. We had just moved into a place together. It's just surreal right now and I don't really know what to think."
Wilson, who had been working a sales job for the New York Islanders, wonders if Boogaard's death was related in any way to the concussion he suffered during a Dec. 9 fight with Ottawa Senators tough guy Matt Carkner.
"That's kind of the million dollar question right now," Wilson said.
"It was frustrating because we couldn't go out without his head spinning again. One thing that nobody knows is that riding in cabs through New York, he would just start spinning. He'd have his hands on his head and he'd say, 'I need to get out right now' and we'd end up walking like 60 blocks home. I knew [the concussion] was bad."
Boogaard's parents, Len and Joanne, have donated his brain to researchers at the Boston University School of Medicine. There, it will be checked for damage.
As a junior and NHL player, Boogaard was nicknamed the Boogey Man because of his fearsome size and the thundering punches he'd rain down on those brave enough to stand toe-to-toe with him. But, his true personality revealed itself off the ice. He was known and respected for his charity work, including his "Boogaard's Booguardians" with the Rangers, a program that hosted military families at home games. He also lent his time to the Rangers' Garden of Dreams Foundation.
The Cougars acquired Boogaard from the Regina Pats in October of 1999 in a deal that saw Jonathan Parker head east. Back then, as a 17-year-old, Boogaard was already six-foot-seven and 250 pounds. Michael Tobin, whose family eventually billeted Boogaard for a couple years, recalled on Saturday a conversation he had with Cougars defenceman and billet Jeff Zorn upon Boogaard's arrival.
"I remember Jeff coming home and he goes, 'Mike, you're never going to believe this monster guy that we just got on the team. When I went and picked him up he wouldn't fit in my car, he had to lay across the back seat,'" Tobin said. "So I said, 'Well, Jeff, bring the kid over.' And he came over and I think he was barely 17 and just wouldn't say a word. He was shy, shy. But before we knew it he'd just walk over on his own and we became buds."
On the team itself, one of Boogaard's closest friends was forward Dan Baum.
"Me and him got to know each other pretty good," Baum said Saturday from Edmonton. "We were best friends for the three years that we were in Prince George together. We lived down the street from each other and we drove to the rink every day and we drove to school every day together so I was a lucky guy to get to know him more than most of my other teammates.
"On the ice, you didn't want to play against him but off the ice he was a gentle giant -- that's a nice way to say it. All of this community stuff he's done throughout all these years, he even did back in junior. He liked to give his time back to the game that made him fortunate."
In 102 games with the Cougars -- regular season and playoffs -- Boogaard scored just two goals and added eight assists. His biggest moment, without question, was an overtime winner against the Portland Winter Hawks in the 2001 playoffs, a goal that gave the Cats a 4-3 decision. On the play, Boogaard made a pass from behind the net to Baum, whose shot trickled through goaltender Lanny Ramage but not across the line. Boogaard was quickly on the loose puck and banged it home. Wilson was also on the ice for the goal, which sparked a memorable celebration on the ice and in the Multiplex seats.
"That OT winner, that obviously stands out," Wilson said. "We talked about that quite often."
The goal, and the way Boogaard performed in those playoffs, helped him get drafted by the Wild that summer, in the seventh round, 202nd overall. He appeared in two games for the Cougars the following season and was then dealt to the Medicine Hat Tigers, where he finished out his WHL career.
Boogaard then played one season for the Louisiana IceGators of the East Coast Hockey League and two with the Houston Aeros of the American Hockey League and developed into a much more well-rounded player. His dedication paid him back when he jumped to the NHL with the Wild in 2005-06.
"Nowadays you still have to be able to do more than just fight," Baum said. "He did something right, working his way up. He'd work his butt off in the summer. He was at the gym three hours a day and working. He knew he wasn't the best-skilled guy so he knew he had to still work on his foot speed and his hands just to even stay in the NHL and I think the Rangers finally realized that when they gave him a long-term contract. How many fighters actually get that nowadays? He worked hard and he deserved everything he had."
Tobin, who stayed in touch with Boogaard over the years, said the big man was going to come for a visit this summer. Boogaard's big plan, according to Tobin, had been to buy a large chunk of property near Vernon that he could share with those who meant the most to him.
"He said, 'I don't even want to be on the lake -- I found 80 acres and I thought it would be so awesome that you could have five acres, I'd have five acres and my mom and my brothers could have some and we could all be there together,'" Tobin recalled. "He wanted to build a log place and have that.
"He just cared so much about family. His big thing was to have all his family and his close friends around him all the time. That's just the way he was. That was Derek in a nutshell. He was just a great friend."
