A federal judge granted the NHL’s motion to dismiss a wrongful death suit brought by the family of Derek Boogaard, a defenseman who played for the Minnesota Wild and New York Rangers before dying of an overdose in 2011.
Boogaard’s death garnered attention for its tragic nature — an overdose on prescription drugs and alcohol at age 28 — and the discovery of CTE in his brain after his death. CTE, chronic traumatic encephalopathy, is a progressive degenerative brain disease that currently can only be discovered after death. Boogaard was an enforcer in the NHL who fought regularly, notching 589 penalty minutes in 277 career games, according to ESPN. Boogaard’s death prompted much media attention, including a six-month investigation from the New York Times published in 2011.
Boogaard’s parents’ said the NHL “actively and unreasonably harmed Boogaard by implicitly communicating that head trauma is not dangerous,” per the court’s opinion. The parents’ claims, however, were undercut by a procedural matter. Under Minnesota law, wrote Judge Gary Feinerman in the Illinois court’s opinion on Monday, the parents’ claims were not viable because they were “personal representatives” and not “trustees.”
“[Parents] Len and Joanne’s inexcusable and inexplicable delay in seeking appointment as trustees has forfeited their ability to do so for purposes of saving Boogaard’s survival claims in this suit,” Feinerman wrote. “Len and Joanne … were alerted to the trustee issue three years ago, in June 2014, when the NHL first argued that Boogaard had no claim because they had not been appointed as trustees.”
Feinerman, however, did not excuse the NHL’s conduct in relation to Boogaard’s time in the NHL.
“Although judgment is entered in the NHL’s favor, this opinion should not be read to commend how the NHL handled Boogaard’s particular circumstances — or the circumstances of other NHL players who over the years have suffered injuries from on-ice play,” Feinerman wrote.
The court’s decision comes as the issue of head trauma and concussions has become a prominent public policy issue working its way through the judiciary. The Supreme Court rejected a petition challenging the NFL’s $1 billion settlement of concussion-related lawsuits late last year, which meant former players would begin receiving payments. The NHL is facing a similar battle, as ESPN noted that more than 100 former NHL players are involved in an ongoing class-action lawsuit.
