NHL enforcer, Derek Boogaard, died last May from an accidental overdose of alcohol and prescription painkiller oxycodone. Boogaard had been struggling with an addiction to painkillers and his addiction was spiraling out of control in the months before his death. Since he died, it has also been found that Boogaard was suffering from chronic traumatic encephalopathy (C.T.E.), a degenerative brain disease.

The damage in the 28-year-old's brain from the disease was so advanced that doctors examining him after death were shocked. It is unclear what part of his extensive brain injury was from his drug use and what from his frequent hits to the head as an NHL enforcer, but it is also hard to separate whether the chicken or egg came first.

A recent in-depth article in the New York Times looks into the question of whether frequent hits to the head contributed to Boogaard's death and whether the practice of fighting should be ended in the NHL.

A neurosurgeon interviewed in the Toronto Star on the issue believes that frequent hits to the head need to be stopped in the NHL. He believes the practice is injuring the brains and ruining the lives of hockey players. He is a vocal proponent of preventing brain and spinal cord injuries in youth sports, too.

Other NHL hockey enforcers also were found to have extensive brain damage after their deaths. If Boogaard had not died of the overdose, doctors believe his irreversible brain damage would have lead to dementia in middle age.

Source: Toronto Star, "Boogaard, 28, had degenerative brain disease," Randy Starkman, Dec. 5, 2011