Our friends at Hockey Wilderness have passed along this story about former Minnesota Wild enforcer Derek Boogaard.
The reports have come back from the Hennepin County Medical Examiner's office, and the conclusion that they have drawn is that Boogaard's death came from an accidental overdose due to a mixture of alcohol and the prescription painkiller Oxycodone.
Early speculation of Boogaard's death was that he took his own life, and that such an end might have been connected to concussions he suffered on the ice while playing for the Minnesota Wild and the New York Rangers. However, the ruling that the death was an accidental one almost certainly negates that possibility. The New York Post reported last Saturday that Boogaard was a member of the NHL's Substance Abuse and Behavioral Program at the time of his death.
Boogaard was one of the Wild's more popular players when he was a member of the team from 2005 to 2010. He died one week ago today in his apartment in Minneapolis.