Winnipeg Jets' Rick Rypien, 27, Found Dead

The gritty forward becomes the second pro hockey player to die this offseason.

Rick Rypien, a National Hockey League forward who had just signed with the Winnipeg Jets, has died, according to the RCMP in Crowsnest Past, Alta. Rypien, 27, had played for the Vancouver Canucks and their American Hockey League affiliate, the Manitoba Moose, since 2005-06 and was a familiar fixture in the penalty box. This past season, the Alberta native was suspended and briefly left the Canucks for getting ejected from a game and then shaking a fan at the Minnesota Wild's XCel Energy Center. At the time, Canucks officials hinted that Rypien might have been suffering from mental health issues. Rypien is the second NHL player to die this offseason, as New York Rangers enforcer Derek Boogaard passed away due to an apparent drug overdose in May.