Disclaimer: I did not know Derek Boogaard, Rick Rypien or Wade Belak personally. I also not a health professional of any kind. I am merely a hockey fan with a blog.
The last 4 months have been hard on NHL fans. Particularly fans in Vancouver, Winnipeg, New York, Minnesota, Colorado, Calgary, Florida, Nashville and Toronto as all of those teams and their fans have now lost former players.
Yesterday’s news that Wade Belak was found dead in his downtown Toronto condo was like a kick to the gut. This was a guy that had finished his hockey career. He had plans to go into radio and TV broadcasting in Nashville and he was going to star in the upcoming season of the CBC’s Battle of the Blades. By all accounts this was a man who was always smiling, always upbeat and always ready to make sure that everyone in the room was in a good mood. He was also a husband and a father to 2 little girls who won’t have a daddy to pick them up and spin them around and kiss them on the forehead when they go to sleep at night.
There are a lot of theories right now as to what happened with Mr. Belak. And they are all just that, theories. As of now there has been no proof of contributing factors. Personally I don’t want to put any stock into any of them because I’m scared that my worst fears will be confirmed and this death could have been preventable. The odds that it could have been are overwhelming. That makes me incredibly sad.
Side note: My only personal memory attached to Wade Belak is a fight he was in against someone on the Bruins roster in a game at the ACC sometime in the 2002-03 season. It was my first NHL game and I was there with a Leaf fan ex-girlfriend watching the Habs 2 biggest rivals play. I don’t remember much from that night, but I do remember the way the fans in Toronto cheered for Wade Belak.
The fact that all three of the NHLers that have passed this summer were enforcers may be nothing more than coincidence, but coincidence is rarely without some actual basis. My hope now is that the right people get together and talk about what has happened and try to find a way to make sure that more families aren’t hurt by actions like these in the future.
This may also turn into a rallying point for depression and mental health action - and I welcome that. If those were contributing factors in the death of a man that was loved by his friends and family and adored by hockey fans in the 5 cities he played in and beyond, I hope we are able to point to his passing and tell the world that this doesn’t have to ever happen again.
At this point I don’t know what to say. I came into this wanting to make a quick point that this was a good man that has left us too soon. And then I became emotional. It’s not what I had planned, but that’s the way life goes sometimes.
Please take a moment today to send a positive thought or best wish or prayer to the friends and family of Wade Belak, Rick Rypien and Derek Boogaard. I can only imagine how their loved ones are feeling right now. And that breaks my heart.
The last 4 months have been hard on NHL fans. Particularly fans in Vancouver, Winnipeg, New York, Minnesota, Colorado, Calgary, Florida, Nashville and Toronto as all of those teams and their fans have now lost former players.
Yesterday’s news that Wade Belak was found dead in his downtown Toronto condo was like a kick to the gut. This was a guy that had finished his hockey career. He had plans to go into radio and TV broadcasting in Nashville and he was going to star in the upcoming season of the CBC’s Battle of the Blades. By all accounts this was a man who was always smiling, always upbeat and always ready to make sure that everyone in the room was in a good mood. He was also a husband and a father to 2 little girls who won’t have a daddy to pick them up and spin them around and kiss them on the forehead when they go to sleep at night.
There are a lot of theories right now as to what happened with Mr. Belak. And they are all just that, theories. As of now there has been no proof of contributing factors. Personally I don’t want to put any stock into any of them because I’m scared that my worst fears will be confirmed and this death could have been preventable. The odds that it could have been are overwhelming. That makes me incredibly sad.
Side note: My only personal memory attached to Wade Belak is a fight he was in against someone on the Bruins roster in a game at the ACC sometime in the 2002-03 season. It was my first NHL game and I was there with a Leaf fan ex-girlfriend watching the Habs 2 biggest rivals play. I don’t remember much from that night, but I do remember the way the fans in Toronto cheered for Wade Belak.
The fact that all three of the NHLers that have passed this summer were enforcers may be nothing more than coincidence, but coincidence is rarely without some actual basis. My hope now is that the right people get together and talk about what has happened and try to find a way to make sure that more families aren’t hurt by actions like these in the future.
This may also turn into a rallying point for depression and mental health action - and I welcome that. If those were contributing factors in the death of a man that was loved by his friends and family and adored by hockey fans in the 5 cities he played in and beyond, I hope we are able to point to his passing and tell the world that this doesn’t have to ever happen again.
At this point I don’t know what to say. I came into this wanting to make a quick point that this was a good man that has left us too soon. And then I became emotional. It’s not what I had planned, but that’s the way life goes sometimes.
Please take a moment today to send a positive thought or best wish or prayer to the friends and family of Wade Belak, Rick Rypien and Derek Boogaard. I can only imagine how their loved ones are feeling right now. And that breaks my heart.
Thank you.
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