With the death of Wade Belak, the three young NHLers who have died in recent months (also including Derek Boogaard and Rick Rypien) were all born and/or played junior hockey in Saskatchewan.
I suspect their common role as hockey enforcers probably played more of a role in their sudden deaths – two suicides and one accidental (?) overdose – than their common geographic beginnings. But still a sad connection for my province.
There will no doubt be some hard questions asked of the NHL and NHL Players’ Association in the wake of the death of three NHL tough guys in less than four months. Many will be looking for a link between the jobs Boogaard, Rypien and Belak did and what role it may have played in their deaths. Ultimately, those are questions that do need to be asked, though in a measured manner without leaping to unfounded conclusions based on wild speculation. – Bob McKenzie, TSN
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