Kukla's Korner Hockey
A Look At Derek Boogaard
by Paul on 05/28/11 at 09:18 AM ET
Comments (1)
from Elizabeth Merrill of ESPN,
On the afternoon of May 12, Derek Boogaard landed in Minneapolis tanned, rested and upbeat, giving every indication that the old Boogey was back. He dined on sushi that night, surrounded by a circle of his closest friends. The headaches that had confounded him and made the strapping, 6-foot-8 left winger so ill he abandoned cab rides for 60-block walks, just so his head would stop spinning, had abated. Boogey was home.
And make no mistake, this was home. The New York Rangers signed his checks, but the Canadian’s heart was always in the Twin Cities. In Manhattan, he could walk around for six hours and nobody recognized him. He hated that, the isolation he felt after he had signed with the Rangers this past summer. People close to Boogaard say he was bored and lonely in New York. When he suffered a season-ending concussion in December, things got even worse. He didn’t leave his apartment for three weeks, shunning the light, and had containers of takeout food piling up on the counters.
But now he was back, even if it was for only a few days, and the downtown revelers near Target Field wrapped him in a warm embrace. He drank Bud Lights and smiled for pictures on cellphones at Sneaky Pete’s. At this particular watering hole—one of Boogaard’s favorites—only three plastic action figures sit atop the bar, near the Hennessy. Brett Favre, Adrian Peterson and Derek Boogaard.
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Thank you for linking this article - good read. As a rangers fan I’m sad to not have had a chance to watch boogey at his best. From everything that was said about him he seemed like an awesome guy. RIP
Posted by Adam on 05/28/11 at 11:48 AM ET