Saskatoon native Derek Boogaard is a professional hockey player in the National Hockey League (NHL). He plays left wing for the New York Rangers. Boogaard was selected in the seventh round of the 2001 NHL Entry Draft by the Minnesota Wild, and made his NHL debut with Minnesota on October 5, 2005, in a game against the Calgary Flames. He went on to log his first NHL point in an October 14, 2005, match-up between the Wild and the Vancouver Canucks, and notched his first NHL goal in an October 19, 2005, game against the San Jose Sharks.http://rangers.nhl.com/club/player.htm?id=8469647&view=bio

On July 1, 2010, Derek Boogaard signed a four-year contract with the New York Rangers as an unrestricted free agent. The deal keeps him with the Rangers through the 2013-14 season. In his first 22 games as a Ranger during the 2010-11 season, he logged two points on one goal and one assist, and registered 45 penalty minutes.http://forecaster.thehockeynews.com/hockeynews/hockey/player.cgi?2549

Derek Boogaard, whose nickname is Boogy, was born on June 23, 1982, in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. The 6-foot-7 Boogaard, who began playing hockey at the age of two, is described by The Hockey News as a "heavyweight enforcer with an intimidating presence, a player that will hit anything that moves."http://forecaster.thehockeynews.com/hockeynews/hockey/player.cgi?2549http://rangers.nhl.com/club/player.htm?id=8469647&view=bio

Derek Boogaard, whose favorite part of hockey is coming to the rink everyday, credits his parents with having the biggest influence on his career. Some of his favorites outside of hockey include boxing, listening to music by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and the television show The Sopranos.http://rangers.nhl.com/club/player.htm?id=8469647&view=bio

Derek Boogaard spent his first five seasons in the NHL playing for the Minnesota Wild. During his rookie 2005-06 season with the Wild, he played in 65 games, logging six points on two goals and four assists.http://forecaster.thehockeynews.com/hockeynews/hockey/player.cgi?2549 His 158 penalty minutes on the season was a franchise record for Minnesota rookies, and ranked him 11th in the NHL in penalty minutes and first among all rookies.http://rangers.nhl.com/club/player.htm?id=8469647&view=bio

In 255 NHL games for the Wild through the 2009-10 season, Derek Boogaard posted 14 points on two goals and 12 assists. He also registered 544 penalty minutes. In 10 playoff games, he posted one point on one assist and put up 44 penalty minutes.http://rangers.nhl.com/club/player.htm?id=8469647&view=stats

Prior to his NHL debut during the 2005-06 season, Boogaard played two seasons for the Wilds' American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate the Houston Aeros, and half a season for the Louisiana IceGators in the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL). In 109 AHL games, he scored one goal and eight assists for a total of nine points, and notched 466 penalty minutes. In 33 ECHL games he recorded three points on one goal and two assists, and received 240 penalty minutes.http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=50621

Boogaard played his major junior hockey in the Western Hockey League (WHL) with the Prince George Cougars and the Medicine Hat Tigers. He logged a total of 174 WHL games from 1999-03, scoring three goals and 18 assists, and logging 670 penalty minutes.http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=50621