The fall of Derek Boogaard is a cautionary tale about the dangers of fighting. Boogaard, at 28, died from an accidental drug overdose as he tried to cope with the pain that came from his years as a hockey enforcer.

After witnessing the physical and cognitive toll hockey took on his son, Len Boogaard is waging a battle of his own: to eliminate fighting from the game. But in the five years since Derek’s death, he still wonders if the NHL is listening. Roy MacGregor reports from Greely, Ont....

Len Boogaard was enthusiastic about his son’s return to the game. He often drove Derek and teammates to out-of-town games in a police car – “I had permission” – and would even drive Derek into Saskatoon for boxing lessons.

Len shudders today to recall those drives into the city. “You’re a dad,” he says. “You’re supposed to be looking after your kids. In hindsight it is always, ‘Well, maybe I should have done this, maybe I should have done that.’ When I was taking him to Saskatoon for boxing lessons at 15, it’s like, ‘What was I thinking?’ ”

In one game that the on-ice officials lost control of, Derek waded into the opposition bench, the players scattering like rabbits. There just happened to be two scouts from the Regina Pats in the stands and they so liked what they saw they immediately put Derek Boogaard’s name on the team’s protected list. He was far from the best player on the ice, but he had something all junior teams wanted.

“He was told, ‘If you want to make it, you got to fight,’ ” says Len. ” ‘Wherever you go you got to fight, you got to fight.’ ”

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