In his first regular-season fight, on Oct. 16, 2005, against Anaheim, he pounded Kip Brennan before dropping him with a big right hand. Boogaard won again, then again. With each fallen opponent, the rookie’s popularity grew.
Such adoration is not unusual. The enforcer, sometimes mocked as a goon or euphemized as a tough guy, may be hockey’s favorite archetype. Enforcers are seen as working-class superheroes — understated types with an alter ego willing to do the sport’s most dangerous work to protect others. And they are underdogs, men who otherwise might have no business in the game.
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In the fall of 2009, a doctor asked Boogaard to name every word he could think of that began with the letter R. He could not come up with any.
Last winter, a friend said, a neurologist asked Boogaard to estimate how many times his mind went dark and he needed a moment to regain his bearings after being hit on the head, probable signs of a concussion. Four? Five? Boogaard laughed. Try hundreds, he said.
Any boy’s dream of the N.H.L. intersects with the reality of skill, usually in the teens. For a few, fading hope depends on a willingness and ability to give and absorb beatings.
“If you’re playing pond hockey, 6 or 7 years old, and somebody said, ‘Hey Brantt, the only way you’re going to make it to the N.H.L. is fighting your way there,’ you think I would have done it?” the former N.H.L. enforcer Brantt Myhres said. “No way. I would have done something else.”
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1 comments:
Makes a pretty strong case for the enforcer role being a thing of the past. If there are still enough "dirty hits" going on in the game that an enforcer is necessary, maybe the issue of respect needs to be addressed. Instead of reacting they could be proactive. Instill in the players respect for each other (and the damage they can do) from an early age. I saw a quote the other day which I can't seem to find again. It said something like, "The goal is to take them off of the play, not out of the game."
I mean, I don't know how anyone can justify human beings destroying their bodies and permanently damaging their brains for our entertainment. For any amount of money. What the fuck are we, ancient Rome?
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