In the aftermath of the deaths this summer of three N.H.L. players, HBO’s “Real Sports” produced a segment that does not shine a positive light on fighting in the game.
The piece does not answer the question whether the deaths of Derek Boogaard, Rick Rypien and Wade Belak were directly connected to their roles as fighters. N.H.L. Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly tells the reporter, Bernard Goldberg, there is no concrete medical evidence that proves there is a link.
Goldberg, however, receives testimony from former enforcers about the toll of knowing they had to engage in fights, starting with the first day of training camp.
“I was this fun-loving boy who loved hockey, and all of a sudden I became a monster,” said Jim Thomson, a former enforcer with Los Angeles. A frequent fighter, Thomson racked up 162 penalty minutes in just 45 games with the Kings in the 1991-92 season. “I was afraid, 24-7. I was shivering every night, curled up in a ball, knowing I had to go in and fight.” Thomson recalls a conversation he had with Belak: “I asked him, ‘Do you like (fighting).” Thomson said Belak responded, “I hate it.”
Belak’s death this summer was suspected to be a suicide. Rypien’s was reported as a suicide and Boogaard died of a drug overdose.
Later in the segment, Thomson says, “I know, from lying in my bed and thinking about taking my life many, many times, I was depressed. How can I not be depressed, knowing I had to go out tomorrow night and fight two 6-foot-6 monsters? Was I supposed to be happy? That was depression.”
Goldberg also interviews the former journeyman enforcer Brantt Myhres, who claims fighting led him to abuse alcohol and drugs (he received a lifetime suspension from the N.H.L.), and Cam Stewart, a former agitating forward who coached Boogaard in the minors and spoke with him frequently before his death. Dr. Robert Cantu, a Boston neurosurgeon, says N.H.L. enforcers have told him they suffer concussions “every fourth or fifth fight” but never tell doctors of their symptoms for fear of losing their jobs.
This edition of “Real Sports” debuts tonight on HBO at 10:00 p.m. with frequent repeats over the next two weeks.
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