NEW YORK – A judge said former Wild forward Derek Boogaard, who died in 2011 of an accidental overdose of prescription painkillers, and a minor league hockey player who supplied him with pills are victims of organized sports.
Federal Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald commented Thursday as she spared Jordan Hart any prison time at sentencing on his guilty plea to a misdemeanor drug possession charge.
Prosecutors had accused the 33-year-old Hart of contributing to the addiction of Boogaard before he died in Minneapolis. Boogaard also played for the New York Rangers.
The judge said Hart and Boogaard were victims of sports' failure to consider the consequences of supplying large quantities of painkillers to players. Hart was receiving prescription painkillers for a shoulder injury when he met Boogaard, who had hockey-related injuries of his own.
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