Posts About "Rick Rypien"
Rick Rypien: A Personal Story
January 5th, 2018 Today marks the eight-year anniversary of the suicide of Vancouver Canucks' enforcer Rick Rypien. This may be one of the hardest articles I've ever had to write because Rypien's death hit very close to home for me. You see, I, like Rick Rypien, suffer from depression. My Story of Anxiety I have had problems with anxiety and...
Canucks' Top Fourth-Line Heroes: #5-#1
August 25th, 2017 The NHL game is evolving. Gone are your typical fourth-line bruisers, and many teams promote speed and skill throughout all four lines. Adding more speed and skill improves the pace of the game, but hockey is losing some of those heart-and-soul players of old. Whether you like fighting or not or whether you think it belongs in the...
War on Ice: The Chilling Truth of Enforcers, CTE and Fighting in the NHL
October 3rd, 2016 Before a big game, players may be sleeping, focusing on trying to score the game-winning goal that lifts their team ahead. Some are simply resting, trying to relax and focus. John Scott, however, is on YouTube and HockeyFights.com, focused on his obligation for the game to come: as an enforcer, his job is to chirp, drop the gloves when...
For the Love of Hockey & Escaping Everything Else
August 3rd, 2015 They say laughter is the best medicine. For many of us hockey players though, the sport we love is the best medicine. Whether it's the endorphins, adrenaline, pure love of the game or all of the above, the sport of hockey gives participants an uncanny ability to block out everything else. The speed of the game doesn't allow for random...
The Canucks Are Soldiers in the War against Mental Illness
October 30th, 2014 When the Canucks re-structured their organization this summer, they didn’t just look at the players they would be putting on the ice this season. They instituted sweeping changes, from the front office staff who would oversee the rebuilding process, to the concession stands and what they would serve to the fans. But there is one...
Twilight of the Goons?
November 14th, 2012 Head injuries and hockey have a long, storied history together, much like peanut butter and jam. However, over the past few years there has been a growing concern over the long-term ramifications of head injuries and, consequently, concern over head injuries in the game. One of the leading voices in the discussion of head injuries in...
Canucks Launch Mindcheck Program In Memory Of Rick Rypien
February 11th, 2012 On January 24th 2012, the Canucks, in association with the Canucks for Kids Foundation, Fraser Health and Provincial Health Services Authority and BC Children's Hospital, announced the launch of a new website dedicated to increasing awareness and understanding of mental illness in young people. The program was named Mindcheck and is...
Hockey's Five Mournful Moments of 2011
December 27th, 2011 As 2011 comes to a close, it provides a time for hockey fans to reflect. In the first of a two-part series, The Hockey Writers’ Steve Kendall will examine the 10 things that saddened him about the sport over the past 12 months. In part two, he will explain the 10 things about hockey that made him happy in 2011. 5. Concussions:...
Two Touching Rick Rypien Video Tributes
October 19th, 2011 Rick Rypien, underrated as a player, much more underrated as a person. Not the biggest, strongest, most skillful or highest scoring players by any means but one of the toughest and most caring people the NHL has ever seen. Below are the tributes shown by the two team's Rypien was involved with, the Winnipeg Jets and Vancouver Canucks,...
Wade Belak, Rick Rypien, and Mental Illness: Sometimes You Lose the War...
September 2nd, 2011 By James Phieffer - Special to TheHockeyWriters.com I was deeply saddened to hear of the death of Wade Belak. I didn't know him, but when I heard he had taken his own life, I realized I understood him. Suicide is the most extreme symptom of mental illness. And that is something I know, having dealt with it since my teenage...
Wade Belak's suicide won’t be the last – time to outlaw fighting in the NHL
August 31st, 2011 Toronto Sun reporting that enforcer Belak's death was a suicide - *AP reports Belak hung himself By Terrance Gavan Wade Belak died today. And it's a sad, sad day for hockey. I arrived home from work. Took the dog out for a walk and saw the banner on TSN when I returned. How to deal with that? And how to ignore the...
Rumour - Vancouver Canucks sign Brad Winchester
July 28th, 2011 Rumours say the Vancouver Canucks have signed hired gun Brad Winchester – see what I did there? “Hired gun”? “Winchester”? Hey, I can’t let sports editors have all the lame headline pun fun… Let’s just assume it’s gospel, and get on with the analysis, shall we? With Winchester, GM Mike Gillis adds something to the...
