Cook: Is change in store for NHL?
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Penguins forward Mike Rupp was on vacation with his wife and three kids in Magic Kingdom at Disney World when he got the news. Suddenly, The Happiest Place On Earth seemed a lot less happy.
"It's awful," Rupp said of the death of New York Rangers enforcer Derek Boogaard. "Really scary."
Boogaard, 28, was found in his Minneapolis apartment May 13. Medical examiners ruled Friday that the cause of death was an accidental mixture of alcohol and the painkiller oxycodone, but the story doesn't end there. Boogaard didn't play this season after he took a punch Dec. 9 from Ottawa's Matt Carkner. It was at least his fourth concussion. His family members are suspicious enough that his death was tied to his head injuries that they donated his brain to Boston University's Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy. That's the outfit that is studying the long-term effects of sports concussions on athletes. In March, it determined that NHL enforcer Bob Probert had degenerative brain disease when he died in July at 45.
It's safe to say Penguins star Sidney Crosby is following the Boogaard story closely. He didn't play this season after Jan. 5 because of concussion symptoms.
Rupp also is watching intently. He led the Penguins the past two seasons with a total of 24 fights.
"If [Boogaard's death] is linked to fighting, it could change the face of hockey," Rupp said. "I would think the league would have to look to go down that road [to banning fighting]."
Rupp has mixed feelings. He knows the players take risks when they drop their gloves. "A lot of bad things can happen. Guys are so much bigger and stronger." But he also fears what the NHL would be like without fighting. "I think the violence in the sport would hit a new level. It would be worse."
Rupp is hardly a hockey goon -- he has good skills for a man 6-foot-5, 245 pounds -- but he became more of a fighter after he was released by the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2006. "I was a No. 1 draft choice and had scored some big goals, but I knew I had to do something to make myself different." He had 55 fights during the next five seasons. According to hockeyfights.com's scorecard, his record in those fights was 24-22-9.
First Published May 22, 2011 12:00 am
