TMZ—of all places—is reporting that Derek Boogaard's family will sue the NHL Player's Association for the money left on the enforcer's contract when he died in May 2011 (as well as some punitive damages). The family says that the NHLPA was supposed to help them collect the remaining balance, but didn't.
TMZ explains as only TMZ can:
Because Derek's parents believe the NHL teams are partly responsible for their son's death, they turned to the NHL PA which promised to help them file a grievance to get the Rangers to pay out the rest of Derek's multi-million dollar 4-year contract with the team.
But, according to the lawsuit, the NHL PA failed to file the grievance by the required deadline, so the Boogaards were unable to collect ... and now the Boogaards are PISSED.
Derek's parents are demanding the NHL PA make things right by shelling out the $4.8 million PLUS $5 million in punitive damages.
While it does sound like the NHLPA reneged on a promise, there are a lot of villains in Boogaard's story, not the least of which is the league itself. Boogaard's family understands that—it was the point of the grievance that was never filed—but that message gets lost a bit in headlines that compress Boogaard's complex story into the latest legal action. Hopefully they get a fair shake, regardless of which organization has to shell out to make it happen.
Previously: Hockey Killed Derek Boogaard