Wade Belak's death and questions for the NHL

I was shocked tonight to hear that former NHL player, Wade Belak had died. Like Derek Boogaard and Rick Rypien, current players who also died this off season, Belak’s passing was sudden and unexpected.

All three players made their living as fighters in the game and many will say that the pressure of their roles indirectly killed them. Many will blame a league that says it is trying to reduce or eliminate fighting, but refuses to take drastic steps to make it so. The debate about concussions in hockey, with Sidney Crosby as its lightning rod, will point to the tragedies of Belak, Rypien and Boogaard as further evidence that brain injuries are the largest problem facing the game today.

None of these arguments are necessarily wrong and the NHL should continue its efforts to look into these issues. But it seems the problem may be much bigger than this and I hope the league is prepared to look at more than just the dangers of fighting and brain injuries and answer some questions that perhaps haven’t been asked before.

Boogaard, we now know used and perhaps abused alcohol and prescription drugs. Is enough being done to counsel players on the danger of substance abuse? Are the treatment programs effective for those who ignore the advice?

Rypien battled depression. Hockey is a macho sport-do players feel comfortable revealing feelings of despair that may or may not have anything to do with hockey? Do teams know the signs of depression and are they reaching out to players who are suffering? Are solutions designed to help the player when it’s arguably “too late?”

Are the pressures of professional sports truly understood? Have we made success such a priority that players will do anything to obtain it, including putting their lives at risk?

The Nashville Predators, Belak’s team until his retirement in February, issued a lovely statement today praising Belak for being a great member of their organization. The NHL expressed its sadness in an equally touching statement.

In times of tragedy, this is what team and league spokespeople do.

We’ve lost three players in a few months, young men in the prime of their lives. Every indication is that these three were good human beings and they’re gone.

Words aren’t going to fix this problem.