On the morning of April 21, Derek Boogaard quietly slipped around to the back entrance of Tom Reid's Hockey City Pub. Jacques Lemaire and his coaching staff, along with Doug Risebrough, were having a little get-together there, probably for the last time.

"I actually just got out of surgery," Boogaard said. "I was pretty messed up. Doug came out. I just wanted to say thanks.

"I talked to Doug to say thanks for everything, for all he did for me from the start. He gave me a lot of advice. On any other team I don't think I could have made it. With Jacques teaching the game and Doug giving me advice, they helped me through a lot of things. They treated me awesome."

That he even remembers that conversation is an achievement. The surgical procedure that morning left him groggy. And it was a procedure we didn't expect.

We knew that several of the Wild played through serious injuries. After the fact, we find out that Boogaard was among them. The labrum in his right shoulder was frayed so badly that he could not raise his arm over his head. Not good for an enforcer who makes his living throwing right-handed haymakers.

The amazing thing is that he suffered the injury during the first week of November and played virtually the entire season with it. Doctors eventually went in and shaved off the frayed edges.