Derek Boogaard’s father comments on Jimmy Hayes’ death, calls out the NHL

10 years ago, Len Boogaard buried his son, Derek, a former NHL enforcer who died back in May 201. Derek died from mixing alcohol and the painkiller oxycodone. Len spoke with TSN’s Rick Westhead on Tuesday to comment on the passing of former NHLer Jimmy Hayes, who died this past August. His death was ruled accidental, though it was confirmed that he had fentanyl and cocaine in his system at the time of his death.

When Jimmy’s father, Kevin Hayes spoke to the Boston Globe about his son’s drug issues, Len immediately thought about his son Derek and his struggles.

“I went to him, and I said, ‘I think there might be a problem here with pills’,” Hayes told Dan Shaughnessy of the Globe. “He had had an injury for a while, and I think he started taking the painkillers and they get you… He called me three weeks later and said, ‘Dad, I’m hooked on these pills. I got injured and I started taking them and I never got off.’ And I said, ‘Well, let’s get you some help.’ He went to a place up in Haverhill (MA). So, he gets help and everything was on the path to recovery I thought. But this [expletive] is so powerful.’’

Hayes had a seven-year NHL career with the Chicago Blackhawks, Florida Panthers, Boston Bruins and New Jersey Devils. His brother, Kevin Hayes, currently plays for the Philadelphia Flyers. Jimmy began regularly using painkillers early on in his NHL career, said a person familiar with the matter.

This is what sounds too familiar to Len Boogaard. Hayes’ words about his son’s battle with addiction sounded sickeningly familiar. This is from Westhead’s article:

“In a six-year NHL career before his death in 2011, Derek suffered numerous concussions, was sent to drug rehabilitation twice and was given copious amounts of medication. During his final two years in the NHL, doctors with seven teams gave him 13 Toradol injections. During the 2008-09 season alone, he was prescribed 1,021 pills from roughly a dozen different doctors, according to his medical records.

“How many players have to die before the NHL acknowledges that there’s a problem?” Boogaard said. “Ten years ago, with Derek, I maintained that it was a learning experience for everybody, so that Derek didn’t die in vain. Well, we continue to just go through the same thing. After me it was Steve Montador’s dad. And now it’s Jimmy’s dad saying he wants to bring this to everyone’s attention, so it doesn’t happen to everyone else. I guess it’s going to take more players dying, maybe three or four back-to-back again, or maybe more, for the NHL to do something.

“Maybe it has to happen again, God forbid. I know it sounds so callous…”

Boogaard, who filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the NHL, hopes Kevin Hayes also demands accountability and details from the league about his own son’s death.

“My fight in some respects brought awareness to what is going on,” Boogaard said. “The league has not gotten away with this scot-free. There has been a public relations cost. And for Jimmy’s father, just don’t let it go. Keep being vocal. Keep advocating for your son. Keep calling the NHL out. This is not an easy road.”

Derek’s father found out about the circumstance of Jimmy Hayes’ death via an email from Steve Montador’s father, Paul. As you know, Steve Montador was 35 when he died on Feb. 15, 2015. After his son’s passing, Paul alleged that Steve suffered at least 11 documented concussions in the NHL, including four in 12 weeks in 2012. In August, a U.S. federal court judge ruled that Paul could pursue a wrongful death lawsuit against the NHL in state court in Illinois over his claim that the league has allegedly misrepresented the dangers of repeated brain injuries while promoting and profiting off a culture of violence. He has yet to file a subsequent claim.

Montador played 571 NHL games during a 14-year pro career that included stints with the Flames, Panthers, Ducks, Bruins, Sabres and Blackhawks.

The story cannot keep repeating itself…