It is not unusual to hear or read about celebrities having drugs or addiction problems, or even committing suicide, unable to chase the demons they find themselves surrounded with. It is not as often that we hear about professional athletes having those problems until them either break the law and/or take their own life.
This summer has been particularly tough for the NHL as the league has lost 3 players who passed away within only a few months of each other. New York Rangers’ forward Derek Boogaard was found dead and an autopsy revealed that the cause of death was a mix of alcohol and the pain killer oxycodone. A few weeks later, Jets’ forward Rick Rypien, who had left the Vancouver Canucks to deal with personal problems a year ago, was found dead. It was later reported that Rypien had suffered from depression and committed suicide. The NHL was still healing from that news than the hockey world learned of an even more surprising death, Wade Belak, who also took his life. Belak, married and father of two, was said to seem happy, competing in Battle of the blades on CBC and having landed a job as a color commentator for the Nashville Predators.
Many in the mainstream media and fans alike have jumped on the fact that all three were considered as tough guys whose role was to drop the gloves to protect their teammates and we have since heard and read from many former enforcers talking about the fears that they had playing that role. It seems to be the consensus that it is the role of enforcer that is causing those players to abuse drugs and/or suffer from depression, even to commit suicide.
Something tells me that it’s not as simple as we want to believe...
I didn't read the new article (drunk) just like to say, I'm curious as to the stats in past off seasons about the number of player deaths. This seems abnormally high, and am curious about two possible causes unrelated too the NHL. Firstly the simple (not to demean), he did it so I will too, I'm from Halifax, we have two bridges, the bridges experiece roughly 1 suicide per day. However there never reported in the news, why? because people may copycat forcing that number higher. Could that be a cause here, especially within the NHL community. As well, could this just be an outlier year, you could have ten years before and after where no one commits suicide and we'd never know there was a problem. is it just an abnormal year for this sort of thing.
Of course all the best too wade and his family, and I'm truly sorry about their loss, I personally lost my grandfather last month and it as hard to go through, i cant imagine losing someone who is in the prime of their life.
I didn't read the new article (drunk) just like to say, I'm curious as to the stats in past off seasons about the number of player deaths. This seems abnormally high, and am curious about two possible causes unrelated too the NHL. Firstly the simple (not to demean), he did it so I will too, I'm from Halifax, we have two bridges, the bridges experiece roughly 1 suicide per day. However there never reported in the news, why? because people may copycat forcing that number higher. Could that be a cause here, especially within the NHL community. As well, could this just be an outlier year, you could have ten years before and after where no one commits suicide and we'd never know there was a problem. is it just an abnormal year for this sort of thing.
Of course all the best too wade and his family, and I'm truly sorry about their loss, I personally lost my grandfather last month and it as hard to go through, i cant imagine losing someone who is in the prime of their life.
Well my friend, even drunk you make more sense than many!
Seriously though, I agree with you and that's why I think that if the media and the fans are serious for a minute, they'll recognize that the issue is NOT about fighting in the NHL, that this past summer is a reflection of what society is living and that the fact that the last 3 were "goons" is pure coincidence.
Well my friend, even drunk you make more sense than many!
Seriously though, I agree with you and that's why I think that if the media and the fans are serious for a minute, they'll recognize that the issue is NOT about fighting in the NHL, that this past summer is a reflection of what society is living and that the fact that the last 3 were "goons" is pure coincidence.
I've been arguing about this with some friends on MSN and FB
This is pretty much exactly what I said. It's a sad coincidence but it has nothing to do with fighting. Then again I could see the NHL abolishing fighting slowly but surely by adjusting the penalties and rules. Personally I'm not really for or against that, just indifferent.
A blog entry that comes to the hasty conclusion that other peoples hasty conclusions are wrong.
This is a matter that requires deep study using resources that the NHL can afford.
Agreed but at the same time I think he's not jumping to any conclusion other than that until we see this happen more often than it has it's an anomaly, which to me is a fair conclusion given the history prior to these three sudden suicide/deaths.
Agreed but at the same time I think he's not jumping to any conclusion other than that until we see this happen more often than it has it's an anomaly, which to me is a fair conclusion given the history prior to these three sudden suicide/deaths.
People are skeptical about the connection between depression and enforcers , that's healthy. But there's no proof that the current rash of suicides is just coincidence either. In fact I doubt it's just random. But without data there's nothing to do but suppose and speculate.
The league needs to begin talking to retirees of today and yesteryear. Many players from days gone by retired from the game with no financial security and in many cases poverty, yet picked up their lives and kept going. With no counseling services, with no medical understanding of depression.
Yet today we have 3 guys that end their lives over a period of a few months. It needs to be studied.
Agreed but at the same time I think he's not jumping to any conclusion other than that until we see this happen more often than it has it's an anomaly, which to me is a fair conclusion given the history prior to these three sudden suicide/deaths.
You are correct. Not jumping to any conclusions here. If anything, I'm trying to expand on the possibilities as opposed to closing our mind to the fact that they're enforcers. Music/movie celebrities have similar problems and yet, they don't fight in the NHL.
The focus should be on studying the reasons through science, and ensuring that those people get the help that they need before it's too late. Also, the key point is that it's not only celebrities, but rather a fact of life that we encounter every day with people around us, therefore more of a society issue than an enforcer problem.
People are skeptical about the connection between depression and enforcers , that's healthy. But there's no proof that the current rash of suicides is just coincidence either. In fact I doubt it's just random. But without data there's nothing to do but suppose and speculate.
The league needs to begin talking to retirees of today and yesteryear. Many players from days gone by retired from the game with no financial security and in many cases poverty, yet picked up their lives and kept going. With no counseling services, with no medical understanding of depression.
Yet today we have 3 guys that end their lives over a period of a few months. It needs to be studied.
agreed, saying "never happened before so it's a coincidence" is just too easy...
it's very possible it's all coincidence, but there would be nothing wrong in looking into it... if anything, by studying these cases, NHL may find ways to help players and not just enforcers...
You are correct. Not jumping to any conclusions here. If anything, I'm trying to expand on the possibilities as opposed to closing our mind to the fact that they're enforcers. Music/movie celebrities have similar problems and yet, they don't fight in the NHL.
The focus should be on studying the reasons through science, and ensuring that those people get the help that they need before it's too late. Also, the key point is that it's not only celebrities, but rather a fact of life that we encounter every day with people around us, therefore more of a society issue than an enforcer problem.
Agreed but say another 5-10 commit suicide over the next couple years and/or die due to drug related causes then yes I will likely think there could be a link. It could also be the first death that set one of the other two guys off type thing. People have copycat suicides before hence why the media rarely speaks of them.
For now I still think the NHL should setup a program to help players and keep a closer eye on them. Possibly have them do routine checks for their own safety. But I don't necessarily believe all this bs about it being related to them being enforcers.
agreed, saying "never happened before so it's a coincidence" is just too easy...
it's very possible it's all coincidence, but there would be nothing wrong in looking into it... if anything, by studying these cases, NHL may find ways to help players and not just enforcers...
I'm under the impression that you have to draft in the top 4 (to include Backstrom) to get a 100pts player. Alfie beeing the lone execption since the lock-out.
You're under a wrong impression. Alfie is certainly not the lone exception, since he's got Marian Hossa to accompany him.
Agreed but say another 5-10 commit suicide over the next couple years and/or die due to drug related causes then yes I will likely think there could be a link. It could also be the first death that set one of the other two guys off type thing. People have copycat suicides before hence why the media rarely speaks of them.
For now I still think the NHL should setup a program to help players and keep a closer eye on them. Possibly have them do routine checks for their own safety. But I don't necessarily believe all this bs about it being related to them being enforcers.
Fully agreed. I just don't like reading mainstream media minimizing the situation by making it a topic of fighting in hockey when there are so many other factors, which pushed me to write the blog in the first place.
It is a serious issue that needs to be addressed wherever and whenever possible... and sooner rather than later.
People are skeptical about the connection between depression and enforcers , that's healthy. But there's no proof that the current rash of suicides is just coincidence either. In fact I doubt it's just random. But without data there's nothing to do but suppose and speculate.
The league needs to begin talking to retirees of today and yesteryear. Many players from days gone by retired from the game with no financial security and in many cases poverty, yet picked up their lives and kept going. With no counseling services, with no medical understanding of depression.
Yet today we have 3 guys that end their lives over a period of a few months. It needs to be studied.
Yes, but over the previous 30-40 years, how many were their? I know it looks bad and perception is everything, but we really don't know the entire story.
Yes, but over the previous 30-40 years, how many were their? I know it looks bad and perception is everything, but we really don't know the entire story.
I'm sure he doesn't ask for this, I'm sure it's more
- You shall not take stupid penalties.
if you combine this one, with the turnover, the defensively responsible one and the playing the system one it gave us why players are playing a little more carefully and less physical.
People are skeptical about the connection between depression and enforcers , that's healthy. But there's no proof that the current rash of suicides is just coincidence either. In fact I doubt it's just random. But without data there's nothing to do but suppose and speculate.
The league needs to begin talking to retirees of today and yesteryear. Many players from days gone by retired from the game with no financial security and in many cases poverty, yet picked up their lives and kept going. With no counseling services, with no medical understanding of depression.
Yet today we have 3 guys that end their lives over a period of a few months. It needs to be studied.
It would be logical to draw such conclusions. We know as a fact that concussions can lead to depression and damage in the frontal area of the brain with permament executive function impairment.
What I really don't get is that people are saying : "we should investigate first" about something that's already investigated.
Yes, but over the previous 30-40 years, how many were their? I know it looks bad and perception is everything, but we really don't know the entire story.
In the previous 30-40 years the players used to be slower and a lot smaller. The amount of energy absorbed in a single NHL hit has probably increased two-fold within that time span. The enforcers are bigger than ever and stronger than ever. Physical players that fight on a regular basis had to face both those changes and got much stronger impacts to the head than in the past.
I think the general public has no idea of what those impacts really are in reality. Almost every hit that looks common in today's NHL has the potential to be very dangerous for the player's health.
