http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2011\/09\/02\/sports\/hockey\/deaths-of-three-nhl-players-raises-a-deadly-riddle.html?_r=1&ref=hockey<\/a><\/p>\r\nLast week The New York Times took a look at this trio of deaths in a story headlined \u201cA Deadly Riddle.\u201d\u00a0 That story noted that Belak alone was involved in 125 fights during his career with the National Hockey League.<\/p>\r\n
In pro hockey, enforcers such as Belak and Boogaard, who was reportedly one of the most feared of his kind in the league, \u201cgo to war every day,\u201d as sports agent Scott Norton told The Times. Enforcers are designated warriors, expected to intimidate opposing teams, and physically lay hands on\u00a0rivals who take cheap shots at team mates.<\/p>\r\n
Obviously that violent role takes a toll emotionally, as well as physically, on even the brawniest, toughest men.<\/p>\r\n
Case in point: One former enforcer, Brannt Myhres, recalled being \u201ccurled up in a ball in a hotel room, scared to death for the next fight,\u201d according to The Times.<\/p>\r\n
So the question is to what extent, if any,\u00a0serving as hockey enforcers contributed or lead to the deaths of Boogaard, Rypien and Belak. Some say it’s not a cut-and-dried issue.<\/p>\r\n
The Times noted that while all three men were enforcers they were very different, as were the circumstances of their deaths. Boogaard, who sustained at least 12 concussions during his career, died of an accidental overdose of painkillers and alcohol.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\r\n
His family, suspecting that Boogaard may have been suffering from the same brain disease as a number of pro football players, sent his brain to Boston University for testing. A research center at that school has already determined that nearly two dozen former NFL players had a brain disease, a condition called\u00a0chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE),\u00a0\u00a0that\u2019s been linked to concussions they suffered while on the field.<\/p>\r\n
The results for Boogaard aren\u2019t out yet, but BU has already found evidence of CTE in the brains of two retired NHL players.<\/p>\r\n
Rypien had a history of depression. Belak was married and the dad of two daughters, and didn’t appear to have a history of problems.<\/p>\r\n
The NHL needs to commission scientific research, and take a hard look at enforcers and the physical and mental impact that role has on them. Then the league needs to find ways to save the lives of these young men.<\/p>\r\n
\u00a0<\/p>\r\n
\u00a0<\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
On Aug. 31 I wrote a blog about the death of a Winnipeg Jets\u00a0hockey pl;ayer, with the headline \u201cRick Rypien\u2019s Death Should Be A Wake-Up Call To The NHL.\u201d \u00a0https:\/\/waiting.com\/blog\/2011\/08\/rick-rypiens-death-should-be-a-wake-up-call-to-the-nhl.html Well, now you can add another co-called \u201cenforcer\u201d to the list of young hockey players, athletes who essentially made their living throwing fists, that have […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[4,774,776,773,770,775],"class_list":["post-1277","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-brain-injury-attorney","tag-death-of-derek-boogaard","tag-hockey-enforcers-deaths","tag-nhl-and-brain-injury","tag-rick-rypien-death","tag-wade-belaks-death"],"yoast_head":"\n
With Three Players Dead, NHL Needs To Study The Impact Fighting Has On 'Enforcers' - Brain Injury Lawyer Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/waiting.com\/blog\/2011\/09\/with-three-players-dead-nhl-needs-to-study-the-impact-fighting-has-on-enforcers.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"With Three Players Dead, NHL Needs To Study The Impact Fighting Has On 'Enforcers' - Brain Injury Lawyer Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"On Aug. 31 I wrote a blog about the death of a Winnipeg Jets\u00a0hockey pl;ayer, with the headline \u201cRick Rypien\u2019s Death Should Be A Wake-Up Call To The NHL.\u201d \u00a0https:\/\/waiting.com\/blog\/2011\/08\/rick-rypiens-death-should-be-a-wake-up-call-to-the-nhl.html Well, now you can add another co-called \u201cenforcer\u201d to the list of young hockey players, athletes who essentially made their living throwing fists, that have […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/waiting.com\/blog\/2011\/09\/with-three-players-dead-nhl-needs-to-study-the-impact-fighting-has-on-enforcers.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Brain Injury Lawyer Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-09-06T00:34:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Gordon Johnson\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Gordon Johnson\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/waiting.com\\\/blog\\\/2011\\\/09\\\/with-three-players-dead-nhl-needs-to-study-the-impact-fighting-has-on-enforcers.html#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/waiting.com\\\/blog\\\/2011\\\/09\\\/with-three-players-dead-nhl-needs-to-study-the-impact-fighting-has-on-enforcers.html\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Gordon Johnson\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/waiting.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/3db3864e6ca028327e090439e0b4b262\"},\"headline\":\"With Three Players Dead, NHL Needs To Study The Impact Fighting Has On ‘Enforcers’\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-09-06T00:34:57+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/waiting.com\\\/blog\\\/2011\\\/09\\\/with-three-players-dead-nhl-needs-to-study-the-impact-fighting-has-on-enforcers.html\"},\"wordCount\":529,\"commentCount\":0,\"keywords\":[\"brain injury attorney\",\"death of Derek Boogaard\",\"hockey enforcers' deaths\",\"NHL and brain injury\",\"Rick Rypien death\",\"Wade Belak's death\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/waiting.com\\\/blog\\\/2011\\\/09\\\/with-three-players-dead-nhl-needs-to-study-the-impact-fighting-has-on-enforcers.html#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/waiting.com\\\/blog\\\/2011\\\/09\\\/with-three-players-dead-nhl-needs-to-study-the-impact-fighting-has-on-enforcers.html\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/waiting.com\\\/blog\\\/2011\\\/09\\\/with-three-players-dead-nhl-needs-to-study-the-impact-fighting-has-on-enforcers.html\",\"name\":\"With Three Players Dead, NHL Needs To Study The Impact Fighting Has On 'Enforcers' - 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