According to Hockey Wilderness, on November 27 the Minnesota Wild will be holding a tribute to honor the loss of Derek Boogaard. The Wild are doing this the right way giving out posters to the fans, donating to Defending the Blue Line and adding a memorial to the concourse along with selling Boogaard memorial mechandise in addition to video tribute to his life and career.
This only increases the questions Rangers on why they have not done the same for a player, who while only with the organization for one injury shortened season, that was a member of their family when he passed so suddenly in May. It is a shocking surprise considered how the Rangers organization and fan community reacted over the summer.
When Derek Boogaard suddenly passed away this summer the New York Rangers made all the right moves. They invited his brother Aaron Boogaard to the podium during the 2011 NHL Entry Draft to announce New York's first pick. In addition, thanks to our friend Kevin DeLury of NYRangers Blog the Rangers fan community got in on the act. First Kevin organizaed a contest to design a shirt in his honor, then the shirts were sold raise money for Defending the Blue Line.
The Rangers however have not made the right moves in how you honor a lost teammate since the 2011-12 season started. There was no tribute to Boogaard in any way comparable to what Vancouver did in honoring the loss of Rick Rypien and certainly nothing to the level of Minnesota appears to be planning. All they did was a video tribute during a TV timeout during the home opener. Time for the Rangers to do the right thing and hold a memorial night of their own for Boogaard.
