Derek Boogaard

In 61 games he scored a goal and nine points. His team-leading 245 PIM was the eighth highest total in the league. In the playoffs, Boogaard scored a goal in six games, while accumulating 30 PIM. "I don't think I ever saw our rink, or Derek, that happy as the time he scored that goal [in the playoffs]", said one of his assistant coaches. Boogaard agreed, writing "It was the best feeling I had the last 2 years." After the season, the Minnesota Wild drafted Boogaard in the seventh round, 202nd overall, in the 2001 NHL Entry Draft.

The rookie first skated on October 5, 2005, getting no points in 3:58 of ice time in a 6–3 win over the Calgary Flames. Within the season's second week he would have his first assist, fight and goal. The assist came on a goal by Wes Walz on October 14, 2005 in a 5–3 loss to the Vancouver Canucks. Two days later, he had his first fight, knocking the Anaheim Ducks' Kip Brennan to the ice. He then scored his first NHL goal on October 19, 2005, beating San Jose Sharks goaltender Evgeni Nabokov in a 6–1 win over the San Jose Sharks. Boogaard finished his rookie season in the NHL with two goals, six points, while leading the Wild with 158 PIM in 65 games.

Boogaard's knockout of fellow enforcer Todd Fedoruk in a fight during a game against the Anaheim Ducks helped spark debate over increasing the punishment for fighting in the NHL. During this fight, Boogaard landed a brutal punch to the cheek sending Fedoruk to the ice. As a result, Fedoruk had to undergo surgery to reconstruct his shattered cheek using titanium plates. Fedoruk and Boogaard would later become teammates in Minnesota during the 2007–08 season. On November 6, 2005, Boogaard knocked out the Ducks' enforcer Trevor Gillies with an uppercut to the jaw.

In 2006–07, Boogaard appeared in 48 games with the Wild, earning an assist, and leading the club with 120 PIM. Early that season, in another game against Anaheim, he broke Todd Fedoruk's cheekbone so severely in a fight that it had to be surgically rebuilt, with metal plates and mesh, adversely affecting Fedoruk's career. He made his NHL playoff debut on April 11, 2007, getting no points in a 2–1 loss to the Anaheim Ducks. Boogaard earned his first playoff point, earning an assist on April 17, 2007 in a 4–1 win over the Ducks. He finished the playoffs with four games played, one assist, and 20 PIM.

He played in 51 games with Minnesota in 2008–09, getting three assists, and leading the team with 87 PIM. He earned an assist on October 16, 2008 against the Florida Panthers, which was his first point since getting an assist on February 8, 2007, also against the Florida Panthers. That represented a 49-game pointless drought.

That season, Boogaard appeared in 57 games, his highest total since his rookie season in 2005–06. Boogaard had four points, and a team high 105 PIM. On March 7, 2010, Boogaard was suspended for two games after a knee-on-knee hit against Edmonton Oilers forward Ryan Jones.

He made his Rangers debut on October 9, 2010, earning no points in a 6–3 win over the Buffalo Sabres. Six days later he assisted on a Brian Boyle goal in a 4–3 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs, his first point as a Ranger. In early November he defeated the Philadelphia Flyers's Jody Shelley in a fight, and scored on Michal Neuvirth of the Washington Capitals in a 5–3 loss, ending a 234-game scoring drought. Rangers' fans chanted his name in the next home game as he defeated Edmonton's Steve MacIntyre. In a second fight during that game, MacIntyre broke his nose, probably causing Boogaard another concussion.

In May 2011, Boogaard was granted another recess to attend his sister's graduation from the University of Kansas. He and brother Aaron went from California back to Minneapolis, planning to spend a few days together with Ryan, the other Boogaard brother. On the night of May 12, Derek went out with friends. Before they left the apartment, Aaron gave Derek what he said later was a 30-mg Percocet tablet he had been holding for his brother.

On July 22, 2011, Aaron was charged with unlawful distribution of a controlled substance. The charge was dismissed in October 2011, at the same time he pleaded guilty to tampering with the scene of a death, a misdemeanor, since he had admitted to police that he had flushed the remaining pills down the toilet before they arrived. He was sentenced to probation and 80 hours of community service.

In September 2012, the Boogaards filed a lawsuit against the National Hockey League Players' Association (NHLPA), in Los Angeles seeking $9.8 million in damages. They alleged that the union was negligent in failing to file a grievance against the Rangers, as they advised the Boogaards they would, after their son's death for the balance of the money on his contract. While it only named the NHLPA as a defendant, there was speculation that it would raise issues about the culpability of both teams, the league and the drug treatment facility that Boogaard attended. The Boogaards' lawyer declined to say whether additional suits were being planned; the union said the suit was without merit. Early in 2013 it was dismissed; the judge ruled that the Boogaards had waited too long to make their claim.

On September 9, 2014, The New York Times reported that Jordan Hart, a former player of the Utah Grizzlies and the son of former Islander Gerry Hart, was arrested for selling Boogaard the Percocet pills that eventually led to his death. The painkillers were obtained through illegal prescriptions issued to Hart by Oscar Johnson, a medical contact from Hart's career with the Grizzlies. Hart faced up to twenty years in prison if found guilty and Johnson's court hearing was scheduled for late September 2014 for "26 counts of distributing and possessing with intent to distribute the drug.". Hart was sentenced on October 6, 2016 to one year of probation and 100 hours of community service.

The NHL successfully moved to have the case removed to federal court in Chicago, which dismissed the suit in 2017 on procedural grounds. Judge Gary Feinerman held that under Minnesota law, a wrongful-death action could only be filed by a court-appointed trustee, which the Boogaards were not, and that deadline had passed before the suit was filed. The Boogaards had also failed to state a claim, and failed to respond in substance to the NHL's arguments that they had. The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed that dismissal in May 2018.