Tootoo, Boogard, Probert etc...Enforcers and substance abuse in the NHL

[SportsJunky]

Good Deadspin article on NHL players and concussions, alcoholism, drug abuse and trying to stay alive. Some stuff about Stevie Montador too.

http://deadspin.com/what-happens-to-...paign=mondayPM

Tootoo recalls being locked in his room at night for an initial week of detox. He'd been sober for over a week before his arrival, but his roommate was another story. "The guy walked in and he was just ****ing mangled," Tootoo writes. "I was looking at him, thinking, I know that look. I've been there." (Orderlies eventually had to prevent the pair from fighting. Later, Tootoo learned that his roommate was the Houston Astros' Jeff Bagwell.)
Tootoo recalls being completely cut off from everyone he knew – no phone calls, no internet – and slowly learning to open up in group therapy sessions. Boogaard, Branch's reporting shows, came and went freely from rehab, skipping sessions, and never seemed to accept his problem was a problem.
Tootoo says that he's never had a drink since that final showdown with Poile. Boogaard was getting prescription painkillers from NHL doctors while he was still in the league's substance abuse program, and routinely failed NHL drug tests without consequences. Tootoo made it back into the lineup in time for Nashville's postseason run. By the time the Stanley Cup was presented, Derek Boogaard was dead.