When
someone passes there is a typical desire to accentuate the positives of who
they were in their life, but what the Minnesota Wild fans did last night for
Derek Boogaard was about showing his family what he was in theirs. The depth of the imprint that Boogaard left
on the fans of the Wild and the community in his five seasons there is special
given how the community has sought to give back to the family in their time of
grief.
I
have always believed that hockey fans are amongst the most compassionate in the
world and the family environment that hockey brings to the players and fans has
been on full display since Boogaard’s passing this weekend. It would be impossible for that same bond to
exist between Boogaard and the New York fans given his short stay and the even
shorter chance to get to know him, both on and off the ice, but today I am in
awe of the beauty of what the Minnesota fans did last night.
Last
night, organized via facebook by Wild fans Katie Haag, 19, of St. Francis and
Shelby Leske, 18, over 300 Wild fans gathered at the Xcel Energy Center for a
memorial service that included Derek’s family.
Michael Russo of the Minnesota
Star-Tribune has an amazing recap of the events that included family,
friends, teammates and organizational members of the Wild speaking about Derek. The gesture started by the fans was a way for
the fans and even the family to get a little comfort in this time of grief as
they share their thoughts, memories and even grief as a unit and not
alone.
The
story of how the crowd began to sing “Amazing Grace” together is one of those
things that you cannot plan and speaks to the emotions that were running
through those gathered. The whole event
was a tribute not only to Derek Boogaard and the love of the hockey community,
but to the people and fans of the Minnesota Wild who showed their love of their
team, a player who was no longer there, and amazing grace.
Also
be sure to check out Michael Russo’s account of how facebook made
the entire night possible and what it meant to the Boogaard’s.
Boogaard’s
funeral service will be held on Saturday in Regina, Saskatchewan.
