It has been a pretty fucked up summer with now 3 NHL enforcers passing away. The latest being fan favorite tough guy Wade Belak. Reports are conflicting as to the cause of this tragedy. Some are claiming that he hanged himself, while others are saying there is nothing suspicious about his death. At this point, suicide seems to be the cause.
One thing that is troubling me is the fact that all three players all fit the same mold as players. Derek Boogaard, who passed away in May from a accidental over-dose, which was reported to be a suicide initially before being ruled an accident. Then came the suicide of Rick Rypien on Aug 15th. Rypien had long suffered from depression. Now, a suicide by a guy that on all accounts was a happy-go-lucky type of guy? It makes no sense.
Wade had retired in March of this year after a long NHL career. He was doing some broadcast work, and I am confident he would have excelled in that role. He was also filming a TV show on the CBC. It is safe to say that he was keeping busy already in his retirement. Some players have said that the NHL should have a program to ease retired players into their new, non hockey lifestyle.
The thing though that is odd to me is the people coming out already calling to ban fighting from the game. They are saying that with the deaths of these three enforcers, it is clear that fighting is the real cause of all of this. To this I say BULLSHIT! Why do I say this? Simple... Why now? Why this summer? Fighting has been around forever in this game, and why has this type of thing not happened before? Back in the day, fights were brutal, equipment was minimal, why has this trend of player deaths not been a common thing for decades? There has to be some other factor aside from the physical act of fighting that has caused this tragic trend this summer.
The anti fighting people are gonna use this to their advantage, which kinda bothers me. The right thing to do is to find out the real reasons behind these players deaths. That though is easier said than done.
Boogaard was a young player with a drug problem. Was the fighting the cause of his addiction? Possibly, but many athletes get hooked on pain pills, while other do not. He could have gotten any number of injuries that would have led to being prescribed pain pills. It then comes down to ones personality if they become addicted or not. Mix those with booze and accidents can happen.
Rypien had a long and public history with depression. He had left the game a few times to deal with these demons, but unfortunately, he lost that battle in the end. Depression is something that can happen to someone no matter what there station or role in life is. To say his death had anything to do with his role on the ice makes little sense to me.
The circumstances surrounding Belak's death are still too unclear to really say much about it other than no one seen this coming.
In the end though, the common thread here is not the obvious one of them all being NHL tough guys, it is that all three obviously had troubles in their off ice lives. It is this thread that should be looked at, and not their on ice jobs. Is the NHL responsible for players off ice lives? Is there anything they can even do to prevent a players personal life from spiraling out of control? These are the questions that will be discussed for a long time to come.
Well that is all for now...
Until next time...
STAY ANGRY!!!
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