Childhood and Family
Boogaard was born in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, the first of four children of Len Boogaard, an officer with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and his wife Joanne, who were living in Hanley at the time. Derek had two younger brothers, Ryan and Aaron, and a sister, Krysten. The family moved every few years due to the transfers required by the RCMP. While they lived for a time near Toronto, most of Len Boogaard's postings were in Saskatchewan.
Derek grew up in Herbert, a predominantly Mennonite community. He was taller than most children his age, reaching 6 feet 4 inches (193 cm) in height and 210 pounds (95 kg) by the age of 15. His adolescent growth spurt led to chronic pain in his knees. In school he struggled, especially with reading—his father believes Derek had "cognitive and behavioral issues", in particular impulsivity.
He was a frequent target of bullying, due to his size, shyness, and being the son of a police officer. When challenged to fights, he often won them decisively, though friends and family say he did not seek them out. "Derek would certainly stick up for the team, he would stick up for his teammates," recalled one of his youth hockey coaches, "but wasn't mean at all."
His family encouraged him to play hockey as an outlet, and his father would often drive him to distant games in his police car, an experience Boogaard was to recall fondly later in his life. He quit hockey briefly at the age of 12, but his family talked him into returning. In his early teens he stated that his goal in life was to play in the NHL, and idolized Wendel Clark, another Saskatchewan native who was at the time the captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The Boogaards later moved to Melfort. Len would often drive his sons to Saskatoon for additional training in skating and boxing. In youth hockey Derek, because of his size, often got penalties that, his coach says, were not his fault. Parents of both teammates and opposing players complained that he was too large to be playing with children his age.
Read more about this topic: Derek Boogaard
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