{coyotes} Todd Ewen's death spurs more questions about fighting in the NHL

 

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Todd Ewen was an NHL tough guy who used his hands for more than fighting. He wrote and illustrated children's books and created elaborate sculptures out of hockey tape in his spare time.

"He was a very unique guy," said his former St. Louis Blues teammate Kelly Chase. "He was very artistic. He was very thoughtful, and very detailed."

Stu Grimson played with Ewen on the Anaheim Ducks in the 1990s, and he remembers Ewen turning a wad of tape into a hockey helmet design, complete with an intricate Ducks logo.

"You would marvel at the detail he could put in them," Grimson said. "It was quirky, but when we stopped and thought about the time, and patience and talent that had to go into that were remarkable."

Chase and Grimson were among many in the hockey world stunned to learn that Ewen, 49, died over the weekend, the victim of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to the St. Louis County Police.

"There was nothing (to indicate this), or at least nothing that any of us knew about," Chase said. "We had our alumni fantasy camp a week and a half before and he was one of the most engaging guys there. He was talking to everyone, laughing, having a great time.

"He was so damn strong that he could put you in a bear hug," Chase added. "He would get his arms around you and squeeze you and you were at his mercy. It's tough around here because we don't know what to think of this. It came out of the blue to us."

Answers are often unavailable in suicide cases because there are often too many variables to consider. But Ewen is another in a growing list of NHL tough guys who have died prematurely.

"You can't just bury your head in the sand and think there is not a connection," said former NHL player Mathieu Schneider, who is a special assistant to NHL Players' Association head Donald Fehr.

"We have to look at every avenue," Schneider said. "We have to look at all of the cases we know. It's tough to speculate, but at the same time I understand why people are jumping to conclusions. Too much has happened in too short of a period of time. The last few years have been difficult. We have to figure out what can be done."

 

In 2010, Bob Probert, considered one of the toughest fighters in NHL history, died of a heart attack at 45. Researchers from Boston University studied Probert's brain and found evidence of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a degenerative brain disease.

In 2011, three tough guys, Derek Boogaard, Rick Rypien and Wade Belak, died in a span of four months. Boogaard was 28 when he died of accidental overdose of Oxycodone and alcohol. A study of his brain showed advanced CTE.

Rypien was 27 when he committed suicide. He had battled depression during his career. The cause of Belak's death was never fully determined, but his family indicated he had known some depression. He was 35.

Defenseman Steve Montador, not known as a fighter, died at age 35. Montador was a physical player and a study of his brain revealed evidence of CTE.

Ewen had been out of the NHL 18 years, and he was much older than the other deceased tough guys. But he fought 148 times in NHL regular season and postseason games, and that number would not count preseason, junior or American Hockey League fights.

Neurosurgeon Charles Tator, director of the Canadian Sports Concussion Project at the Krembil Neuroscience Centre, Toronto Western Hospital, has asked the Ewen family to donate his brain to be studied. He said he hasn't yet heard from the Ewen family.

"I am hoping that it is going to happen, but you can imagine what each of these families go through who make that decision," Tator said.

According to several news media outlets, Ewen shot himself in the head. Tator said the brain would still be viable for study.

"So as long as the brain is preserved properly and removed properly, it'll be very important to examine that brain," Tator said.

Tator said he has studied the brains of two deceased NHL players and 16 Canadian Football League players and discovered evidence of CTE in half of them.

Ewen's background as a former NHL tough guy also played a role in Tator's desire to study his brain.

"The role of the enforcer needs to be phased out," Tator said. "The concept of having to have fights with their almost automatic blows to the head are something that we really need to get rid of."

The NHL, which is being sued by former players who allege the league did not adequately protect them from the risks associated with repeated concussions, declined comment. But the NHL and NHLPA have both been active, through rules changes, in trying to reduce the number and severity of blows to the head.

"We've got to try to figure what needs to be done, whether it is strictly a concussion issue, or issues dealing with a second career after hockey," Schneider said. "We need to be more versatile at the Players' Association and work with guys after hockey."

Ewen was not a player who earned his keep strictly with his fists. "He was a great skater. He could fly," said Schneider, who played with Ewen in Montreal.

The Anaheim Ducks acquired Ewen from the Canadiens in the first trade in the Ducks' history because of his character.

"He won the Stanley Cup the year before and he brought leadership and credibility to our team," said David McNab, the Ducks' senior vice president of hockey operations. "And he was a great guy to have around. He was a great team guy. He was a good guy for a young franchise to have."

Ewen had his best season in his first season with the Ducks, scoring nine goals to go along with his 285 penalty minutes.

He was an alternate captain for three seasons in Anaheim. "He was an important person here," McNab said. "He really helped this franchise get off the ground."

Ewen will be remembered as an athlete who had many interests outside the arena.

"The fact that he was a hockey player was almost incidental to his character," Grimson said. "By no means, did hockey define him."

Like many tough guys, Ewen liked being a hockey player more than a tough guy.

"He was big strong tough guy," Chase said. "He didn't enjoy the role (of enforcer), but he knew it made him successful and it gave him the opportunity to put meals on the table. So he did it."

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