Todd Ewen was an NHL tough guy who used his hands for more than just fighting. In his spare time, he wrote and illustrated children’s books and created elaborate sculptures from hockey tapes.
“He was a very unique guy,” said his former St. Louis Blues teammate Kelly Chase. “He was very artistic. He was very thoughtful and very detailed.
Stu Grimson played with Ewen with the Anaheim Ducks in the 1990s, and he remembers Ewen turning a wad of duct tape into a hockey helmet, complete with an intricate Ducks logo.
“You would be amazed at the detail he could put into it,” Grimson said. “It was weird, but when we stopped and thought about the time, patience and talent that had to be put into it, it was remarkable.”
Chase and Grimson were among many in the hockey world stunned to learn that Ewen, 49, died over the weekend of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to St. Louis County police .
Former NHL player Todd Ewen dies at 49
“There was nothing (to indicate it), or at least nothing that any of us knew about,” Chase said. “We had our fantastic alumni camp a week and a half before and he was one of the most engaging guys. He talked to everyone, laughed, had a good time.
“He was so strong he could hug you,” Chase added. “He would wrap his arms around you and hold you and you were at his mercy. It’s difficult here because we don’t know what to think about this. This came to us out of nowhere. »
Answers are often unavailable in cases of suicide because there are often too many variables to consider. But Ewen is part of a growing list of NHL tough guys who have died prematurely.
“You can’t just bury your head in the sand and think there’s no connection,” said former NHL player Mathieu Schneider, who is special assistant to the head of the Players’ Association of the NHL, Donald Fehr.
“We need to look at all avenues,” Schneider said. “We need to look at every case we know about. It’s hard to speculate, but at the same time I understand why people jump to conclusions. Too much happened in too little time. The last few years have been difficult. We need to figure out what can be done.
In 2010, Bob Probert, considered one of the toughest fighters in NHL history, died of a heart attack at age 45. Researchers at Boston University studied Probert’s brain and found evidence of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a degenerative brain disease.
In 2011, three badasses, Derek Boogaard, Rick Rypien and Wade Belak, died within a span of four months. Boogaard was 28 when he died of an accidental overdose of oxycodone and alcohol. A study of his brain showed advanced CTE.
Rypien was 27 when he committed suicide. He had battled depression during his career. Belak’s cause of death was never fully determined, but his family indicated that he had experienced some depression. He was 35 years old.
Defender Steve Montador, not known as a fighter, has died at the age of 35. Montador was a physical player and a study of his brain revealed evidence of CTE.
Ewen had been out of the NHL for 18 years and was much older than the other tough guys who had died. But he fought 148 times in the NHL regular season and playoffs, and that number wouldn’t count preseason, junior or American Hockey League fights.
Neurosurgeon Charles Tator, director of the Canadian Sports Concussion Project at the Krembil Neuroscience Center at Toronto Western Hospital, asked the Ewen family to donate their brain for study. He said he had not yet heard from the Ewen family.
“I hope this happens, but you can imagine what each of these families are going through who are making this decision,” Tator said.
According to several media outlets, Ewen shot himself in the head. Tator said the brain would still be viable for study.
“So as long as the brain is preserved properly and removed properly, it’s going to be very important to look at it,” Tator said.
Tator said he studied the brains of two deceased NHL players and 16 Canadian Football League players and found evidence of CTE in half of them.
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Ewen’s background as a former NHL tough guy also played a role in Tator’s desire to study his brain.
“The role of the enforcer must be phased out,” Tator said. “The concept of having to fight with their almost automatic hits to the head is something we really need to get rid of.”
The NHL, which is being sued by former players who claim the league failed to adequately protect them from the risks associated with repeated concussions, declined to comment. But both the NHL and NHLPA have been active, changing their rules, to try to reduce the number and severity of head hits.
“We have to try to figure out what needs to be done, whether it’s strictly a concussion issue or issues related to a second career after hockey,” Schneider said. “We need to be more versatile within the Players Association and work with the guys after hockey. »
Ewen was not a gambler who earned his living with his fists alone. “He was a great skater. He could fly,” said Schneider, who played with Ewen in Montreal.
The Anaheim Ducks acquired Ewen from the Canadiens in the first trade in Ducks history because of his character.
“He won the Stanley Cup the year before and he brought leadership and credibility to our team,” said David McNab, senior vice president of hockey operations for the Ducks. “And he was a great guy to be around.” He was a great team guy. He was a good guy for a young franchise.
Ewen had his best season in his first season with the Ducks, scoring nine goals in addition to his 285 penalty minutes.
He was an assistant captain for three seasons in Anaheim. “He was an important person here,” McNab said. “He really helped this franchise take off.”
Ewen will be remembered as an athlete who had many interests outside of the arena.
“The fact that he was a hockey player was almost incidental to his character,” Grimson said. “Hockey didn’t define him in any way.”
Like many tough guys, Ewen would rather be a hockey player than a tough guy.
“He was a very strong, tough guy,” Chase said. “He didn’t like the role (of enforcer), but he knew it made him successful and it gave him an opportunity to put meals on the table. So he did it.
