The New Yorker on Rangers enforcer Derek Boogaard, who was found dead in his apartment on Friday at the age of 28.
Players able to frighten other players are as difficult to find as players who can score goals. Boogaard was six feet eight inches tall, and sometimes weighed as much as two hundred and eighty pounds. He didn’t move quickly, but players who didn’t get out of his way resolved to pay closer attention to Boogaard’s whereabouts. There are hockey players who provoke and antagonize and often carry things too far, but this was not Boogaard’s style. His presence was stately. He was more Gary Cooper than Charles Bronson.