Derek Boogaard has been dead for nearly three years but he has not been forgotten.
The notoriety of the former tough guy with the Prince George Cougars will go up another notch this October with the publication of Boy On Ice by New York Times reporter John Branch. The book will expand upon the series of stories Branch did for the Times in 2012 and 2013, chronicling Boogaard's rise through the junior and minor-league ranks to a 277-game career in the NHL that ended with his death at 28 from an accidental overdose of prescription painkillers and alcohol.
Book giant Harper Collins had ordered a print run of 100,000 hardcover copies of the 352-page book, so they're clearly expecting Boy On Ice to be a non-fiction bestseller on both sides of the border.
This book could land on hockey's doorstep with the force of one of Boogaard's legendary right hands.
Branch's work with the Times exposed how Boogaard suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a diagnosis he received posthumously after his parents donated his brain to researchers at the Boston University School of Medicine. In other words, Boogaard was left with permanent damage after numerous brain injuries over a long period of time and the cause was hockey.
He fought 66 times during his days with the Minnesota Wild and the New York Rangers. Once his career with the Cougars and minor-pro teams is included, there's no doubt the six-foot-seven 250-pound forward was in upward of more than 100 bare-knuckle brawls.
When Boogaard's parents sued the NHL for the wrongful death of their son, their lawsuit revealed how he had received a shocking 1,021 prescriptions from doctors and dentists during the 2008-09 season with the Wild.
Neither the hot air factory that is Don Cherry nor the best liability lawyers hired by the NHL and its wealthy team owners can argue away that Branch's work on the effects of hockey violence in general, and fighting in particular, is more than a sob story about a few guys getting their bell rung every once in a while. These injuries can end the careers and even the lives of players.
Worst of all, the NHL and other hockey leagues could find themselves in the same position as cigarette companies decades ago. They could be on the hook for millions or even billions of dollars to settle class-action lawsuits for knowingly putting players in harm's way and then not only doing little or nothing to protect them but actively encouraging them to fight.
If the NHL and its owners think that nightmare could never come their way, they might want to pay attention to the massive lawsuit already filed by thousands of former National Football League players for the lingering effects of brain injuries suffered during their years on the field.
Even when it's an accident and not caused by fighting, brain injuries can last years.
Chris Pronger, one of the best Canadian defenceman ever, hasn't played since November 2011, after taking a stick to the eye almost a month earlier. He is still experiencing post-concussion symptoms, he told the Canadian Press this week. At what point does this become a permanent, side effect that will continue until the day he dies? He's only 39. The fact that he played several games after his injury illustrates the culture of willful blindness that still runs rampant throughout hockey when it comes to head injuries.
That culture still exists.
Douglas Murray of the Montreal Canadiens laid out Michael Kostka of the Tampa Bay Lightning with an elbow to the head Tuesday night (watch the replay here: http://pgc.cc/1jZQRnV). Kostka lay flat on his back, motionless, after the hit. A medical team was on the ice with a stretcher less than a minute later. Amazingly, Kostka came to and the doctors let him skate off the ice but it's too soon to say what the short and long-term effects of that hit are.
It's also too soon to say what the short and long-term effects of the Boogaard family lawsuit, Branch's New York Times stories and his upcoming book will have on the NHL but one thing is certain. Hockey still hasn't wrapped its head around head injuries. Until it does, players and the game itself are at serious risk.
