Read Boy on Ice The Life and Death of Derek Boogaard John Branch Books

Product details Paperback 384 pages Publisher W. W. Norton & Company; 1 edition (October 13, 2015) Language English ISBN-10 0393351912

Boy on Ice The Life and Death of Derek Boogaard John Branch Books Reviews

• First off, I can't believe I'm the first person to review this book.
  
  Second, if you love fighting in hockey, please don't read this book. If you love fighting in hockey, please read this book. This book truly is a book of contradictions. I can guarantee that you'll never look at pugilists dropping the gloves and putting on the foil the same way again.
  
  I feel the book does a very effective job illustrating the positives and negatives of life as an enforcer. In Derek's case, he dies at 28, but the years he lives involve him experiencing a life that he never would have experienced as someone who had limited academic attitude even before the repeated head trauma. (It's similar to a hypothetical question my friends and I have bantered about at the bar. Wikipedia has told us that two celebrities have come from the school our houses are districted to Patrick Swayze and The Undertaker from WWE. Would you rather have the more years of the undertaker or the higher quality years of Swayze?)
  
  As far as the book itself, it starts with a great premise, but it's a difficult read for two reasons.
  
  1) The first is no fault of the author. The story that is being told is a real life Flowers for Algernon in that you become emotionally attached to the likeable character, and then watch the downward slide that you know won't be reversed. Each page comes with snowballing dread.
  
  2) the part that was under the author's control is that this book is an extension of an excellent series of articles, and it reads like it too. I think Branch realized he didn't have the content for a full-length book, so he threw in a bunch of filler, like I used to do to stretch the word count for high school essays. He feels the need to repeat himself several points throughout (he talks about Derek being a good guy off the ice so often it's like Rainman) and goes into unnecessary detail into the fights fought and pills taken (no exaggeration, play by play for most fights and a day by day account of what pills he was getting from each doctor. It reads like an academic journal)
  
  In the end, the format of being a full-length book might not have been ideal, and the content is at times hard to get through, but this is a book that has the potential to change sports. It poses the tough questions that can't be explored in a mere article, and helps personify the dangers of CTE and what the personality effects entail.
  
  If you're a fan of any sport with blunt head trauma, reading this book will give you an early insight into the future. It's coming...
• Derek Boogaard was so much more than just the 6'8", 240 lbs piston-fisted ice locomotive we saw on the ice. "Boy On Ice" gives the reader an objective view of Boogaard's life from childhood until his tragic death at the young age of 28. The author stays objective, not taking sides in the "fighting in hockey" debate. Instead, he gives the reader nonjudgmental facts which could reasonably support either side. However, a couple of chapters into the book the reader sees, with heartbreaking clarity, an ongoing pattern throughout Boogaard's life. From the oversized 10-year-old boy bullied by opponents' parents because they feared for their child's safety when he towered over them on the ice, to the man who loved hockey and had NHL dreams, but learned early that his hockey skills alone would not get him into The Show. Whether you're for or against fighting in hockey, whether you hated Derek Boogaard or loved him, when you finish this book you will know who he was, what his struggles were, and the world of constant pain endured by hockey enforcers. Best, most heartbreaking hockey book I've ever read.
• As a casual hockey fan, I didn't know who Derek Boogaard was but picked up his book after reading Theo Fleury's 'Playing with Fire' and Clint Malarchuk's "A Matter of Inches". This book gives an inside look to what goes on when a hockey player puts up the gloves to fight another and what the damages of those fights are. The talk of concussions has been more prevalent among NHL players these days and this book gives a good view into why the talks need to come forth and why the NHL itself needs to recognize that there are lasting effects. This was an interesting book, sad at times due to the decline of Derek's health and the amount of pain he was in. Hockey players are only human and this book is a good reminder that while fighting is part of hockey that each time a player goes into battle, that fight may last with them forever.
• Great look at the behind the scenes problems of a modern day "enforcer" and the possible link to long term health problems like CTE & addiction. Crazy to read this & realize this all happened not too long ago. Author does a great job going into detail of the rise & fall of Boogaard. The book begins the same as any other hockey book, where you're rooting for the player, then when the pain killer prescriptions start to get listed in great detail, you remember that unlike those other books, this one will not have a happy ending. This is a must-read for hockey fans & anyone looking for some of the untold stories & problems of a fan favorite.
• A well presented story behind the story of a boy with a dream which turned into the ultimate nightmare. Derek had drive and talent, just not enough of the right kind of talent to avoid being pigeon holed into a role which ultimately cost him his life. The author follows Derek as he grows from a boy to become a feared enforcer in the NHL. As his career unfolds, the story becomes not just the tale of one man's dream gone bad, but a damning condemnation of the system of pro hockey which ruthlessly sacrifices the very lives of its players for the sake of profit. As Derek's life gets pounded out of him, bit by bit, the book describes how the NHL flouted its very own so called "rules" to keep him on the ice and keep the money rolling in. The author does an excellent job of describing the effects on Derek and those who loved him as the damage to Derek's body and brain mounted and his life unraveled. It's heartrending to see how they trusted the NHL to protect their boy and treat his addiction--a trust which was broken spectacularly again and again. Anyone who wants to understand the real dynamic behind professional hockey should read this book.