Goodnight To The Boogeyman

As you've heard, the Rangers lost one of their own this weekend when Derek Boogaard passed away at his apartment in Minneapolis. He was just 28 years old.

After writing and re-writing this, there is simply no proper way for me to eulogize Boogey. To wax poetic would be disingenuous. The last words I wrote about Derek Boogaard were harsh, calling him a "lumbering loser." And I stand by them because he was, but that doesn't make the loss any less tragic.

Events like these are harsh slaps back to reality for when we get too myopic over this game we love. There was far more to the man than what we saw on Broadway this year, and far more even than the few lines in his obit about his charitable work imply. To see the depth of his impact just go over to the Hockey Wilderness and you can see how the massive man affected a massive number of people.

As for myself, I have just one good memory of the man and it wasn't a direct interaction: I remember Sean Avery being Sean Avery during warmups and yapping across the red line on at least three occasions. You could see just when Avery went too far. The opposing player got mad and then, like magic, the Boogeyman appeared and slid between the two. He didn't say anything. He didn't push Avery back. He didn't shove the opposing player. He just stood there on the red line with a little smirk, looking anywhere but at either of the agitated parties. It was hilarious.

Sincerest best wishes to his families, those by blood and those by puck. RIP Boogeyman.