What a shitty week. Former Canucks and current Winnipeg Jets forward Rick Rypien was found dead in his Alberta home this week. He was only 27.
He is the 2nd NHL player to die since the end of last season. Derek Boogaard was found dead in his apartment in May, succumbing to a mix of oxycodone and alcohol.
I will always remember “the Ripper” as I called him as the guy you could count on to stir the pot in a Canucks game. Me and the boys often wondered out loud why he wasn’t in the lineup more in his glory days.
Dude wasn’t scared of anybody. I loved his effort, loved his grit, loved his passion. To bad he didn’t quite have the skill set to back up his bravado, that would have been a helluva 1-2 punch.
Former Canuck Brendan Morrison had this to say…
“When he first got called up, he sat beside me in the locker-room for a long, long time, and was a great kid,” Morrison recalled Tuesday from his off-season home in Tofino, B.C. “He had a tremendous amount of respect for all the guys in the locker-room.
He respected the game, the coaching staff, everybody. “Everybody liked him because he had a great heart and was a fantastic teammate. He’d do anything for his teammates.
“It’s a tragedy.”
Rypien signed a one-year deal with the Jets in July worth $700,000 US after posting nine goals, seven assists and 226 penalty minutes over 119 career games with the Canucks.
You will be missed Rick!