Posted on May 14 2011 by Brayden Dixon

Derek Boogaard’s Brain To Be Donated To Science

Over the weekend, Derek Boogaard, of the New York Rangers, and noted hockey tough guy enforcer was found dead in his apartment. The reason for his death is unknown as of now but reports say that an autopsy report won’t be released for a couple of weeks.

People immediately were reminded of another former NHL tough guy enforcer, Bob Probert, who also died at an early age because of the number of fights the two partook in during their NHL careers and the repeated blows to the head they received.

With the NFL going through a brain damage and concussion issue other contact professional sports are only going to have to answer the same questions the NFL faces. That’s why Boogaard’s death might be something a lot of people will be paying close attention to over the weeks.

Professional hockey is a violent sport and after a shocking death of a young man, deemed a, “really big teddy bear”, by his former Minnesota Wild teammate Niklas Backstrom, only more questions are going to arise about the NHL, fighting and concussions.

It seems Boogaard’s family also has some questions about whether or not hockey had any impact on Boogaard’s untimely death and have decided to donate his brain to science. They donated the brain so they can have doctors study it to see if Boogaard’s brain was affected by concussions in any way.

It’s something you see a lot in the world of the NFL when a retired player dies young or dies in an unusual fashion. Bob Probert’s family also donated his brain to science. Derek’s brother Ryan said about the donation: “Derek loved sports and obviously in particular hockey, so we believe Derek would have liked to assist with research on a matter that had affected him later on in his career.”

Giving the brain to the Sports Legacy Institute will help researchers as they continue to advance in the study, treatment and prevention of, “the effects of brain trauma in athletes.” What most researchers are looking for is signs of CTE, or Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, which is a degenerative brain disease brought on by continued trauma. Most brains donated to science, such as Bob Probert’s, are found with CTE after examined.

Hits to the head, either from knocking helmets or getting into fights, and concussions suffered through game play have been seen as leading causes of CTE. The more blows suffered to the head, the more trauma it causes. For athletes, especially in hockey and football, that’s what they do for a living.

The Boogaard family is just looking for answers as they deal with this harrowing situation. The NHL might be looking for answers of a different kind though as they have to deal with whether or not they need to alter rules and the way the game is played to help better protect players.

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