Lemaire Laments Loss Of Boogaard

(NewsCore) - MINNEAPOLIS -- Jacques Lemaire said he was struggling Sunday to make sense of the death of his former player Derek Boogaard, as the late NHL enforcer's family confirmed it was donating his brain for medical study.

Boston University researchers studying brain disease in athletes would inherit the former Minnesota Wild and New York Rangers player's brain after his relatives gave their consent, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reported Saturday.

Boogaard, 28, was found dead in his Minneapolis apartment by family members Friday night, according to the Hennepin County medical examiner's office, with the cause of his death still unknown.

Although an autopsy was conducted Saturday, the results were not expected to be released for weeks. Foul play was not initially suspected, but the Minneapolis homicide unit was investigating.

Lemaire, who coached Boogaard during the first four of his six NHL seasons, told the New York Post of his difficulty in comprehending the death after hearing the news Saturday morning.

"It's always tough when a person you know goes, but when you look at a guy, 6'7", 260 [pounds], healthy, strong like a bull and he just goes -- that's what makes you sick to your stomach," he somberly said. "Big, strong and healthy, looks like he's going to live forever, and he goes this quick at 28. It's tough to take. You're wondering."

Lemaire coached Boogaard with the Minnesota Wild from 2005-09, when the coach retired before rejoining the Devils. Lemaire recalled a hard worker and popular teammate.

"He was very dedicated about playing in the NHL, and he had to do a lot of work to stay there," Lemaire said. "Mike Ramsey and Mario Tremblay worked so much with him to make him a player. When he started to do well, he gave confidence to the players on the team. He was one of the best, if not the best, [enforcer] at the time."

The year after Lemaire left the Wild, Boogaard departed as well, signing as a free agent with the Rangers last July 1.

"I never had anything bad to say about him. As tough as he was on the ice, off the ice he was such a good person," Lemaire said. "His teammates really loved him. Personal problems -- none, none at all. We never, never had any problem with him. Never."

Boogaard recently received counseling in the NHL/NHLPA Substance Abuse and Behavioral Health Program in recent weeks, according to a New York Post report Saturday, but sources close to the situation said it would be unfair to draw inferences from that in relation to his death.

The researchers at Boston University's Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy (CSTE), which is set to inherit Boogaard's brain, is attempting to address a "concussion crisis" in sports.

In March, the CSTE announced that although former Red Wings and Blackhawks left wing Bob Probert died of heart failure last year aged 45, he also suffered from the degenerative brain disease Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy.

He was the second hockey player to be diagnosed with the disease by the CSTE, the first being 1960s enforcer Reggie Fleming.

Read more: New York Post