Stephen Peat of the Washington Capitals. Peat, who died at age 44, battled numerous health problems he believed were largely related to concussions he had suffered during his hockey career.B Bennett/Getty Images
Stephen Peat discovered – the hard way – how fleeting National Hockey League fame can be.
After basking in the spotlight, the ex-enforcer descended into darkness. Mr. Peat, who has died at the age of 44 in a hospital in New Westminster, B.C., battled numerous physical and mental-health problems he believed were largely related to concussions he had suffered during his hockey career. He also grappled with homelessness, alcohol and drug abuse, unemployment and legal troubles.
“Hockey’s been the greatest thing in my life, but it’s also been the worst thing in my life,” Mr. Peat told The New York Times in 2016.
“It was great while I was playing, but what has it done lately? My peers of enforcers have become statistics and the NHL is in denial. They’re denying that the job I did even existed, even though I sacrificed my quality of life, my well-being and my future greatly by being there for my teammates in the present.
“I don’t think the coaches or anyone was thinking of me 10 years down the road when they were pushing me out there to fight. You know what I mean?”
Mr. Peat noted that numerous other former NHL tough guys – including Derek Boogaard, Wade Belak and Rick Rypien – have suffered premature deaths and were diagnosed posthumously with chronic traumatic encephalopathy, an incurable brain disease linked to repeated head shots.
Before he encountered his own problems, Mr. Peat showed plenty of promise at a young age.
“The thing that people forget is how good of a player he was in junior growing up,” his former teammate Matt Pettinger said.
Mr. Peat and Mr. Pettinger played together in junior with the Western Hockey League’s Calgary Hitmen, the minors with the American Hockey League’s Portland Pirates and the NHL with the Washington Capitals, often toiling on the same line.
“The fists and the toughness [were] an aspect of his game, but he was a high draft pick in the Western Hockey League and then the National Hockey League,” Mr. Pettinger said. “So, it was fun to play with him, because he could play. You can’t say that about every single fighter in that era, but Peaty definitely had that in him. He gave you confidence to go out there and play your game and not worry about other stuff.”
Stephen Boyd Peat was born on March 10, 1980, in the small town of Princeton, B.C. He was the youngest of two sons born to Walter Peat, who built a career in the lumber industry, and Laura (née McBride) Peat.
After playing minor hockey in Princeton, Mr. Peat moved to the coast at the age of 14 for the first of two seasons with the B.C. Hockey League’s Langley Thunder. He stood out at his first training camp by beating much older players in fights, recalled Howie Zaron, who met him then through friends on the team and remained a buddy until his death.
Despite a lack of offensive productivity, the 6-foot-2 and 230-pound Mr. Peat was selected third overall in the WHL’s Bantam Draft by the Red Deer Rebels. In 1998, while playing for Red Deer, he was invited to play in the Canadian Hockey League top prospects game at Toronto’s Maple Leaf Gardens.
That summer, he was among the earliest selections in the NHL Entry Draft as the Anaheim Ducks picked shortly after the second round commenced (32nd overall).
That draft was not a banner one for NHL scouts and general managers as most of the selections fizzled. Mr. Peat’s name is among just five in the draft class that are easily recognizable. Vincent Lecavalier became a fan favourite and captain of the Tampa Bay Lightning; Pavel Datsyuk became a Detroit Red Wings star hall of famer; Mike Ribeiro played 1,074 regular-season games and another 67 in the playoffs while amassing a plethora of points; and Jonathan Cheechoo excelled offensively for a few seasons with the San Jose Sharks.
Of those five players, only Mr. Lecavalier (first overall to Tampa Bay) and Mr. Cheechoo (29th overall to San Jose) were drafted ahead of Mr. Peat.
Mr. Peat spent five seasons in the WHL, amassing more than 600 penalty minutes as he completed two stints with both Red Deer and the Tri-City Americans before completing his junior eligibility with Calgary in 2000. That summer, Anaheim traded his NHL rights to Washington.
His pro career was beset by injuries virtually from the get-go. He played only six games in his first pro season, with Portland in 2001-02. But he still managed to reach the NHL the next season, splitting that campaign and the next two between the Capitals and Portland.
While the 2004-05 NHL season was cancelled owing to a lockout, he played briefly for the Connecticut-based Danbury Trashers of the now-defunct United Hockey League. Known for their brawling ways, the Trashers were owned by a garbage-company magnate who was imprisoned for racketeering and fraud. Mr. Peat racked up 45 penalty minutes in only seven games with the Trashers.
Mr. Peat’s career never got back on track after that season. He played only one game with Washington, and five with the AHL’s Hershey Bears, in 2005-06. He spent his final two seasons in the AHL with Lowell and Albany, respectively, but he suited up for just four contests.
Mr. Peat recorded eight goals, two assists and 234 penalty minutes in 130 NHL games.
As one way of life ended, he sought to become a realtor but failed on two attempts to pass the licensing requirements, according to the National Post. Mr. Peat worked briefly in construction and at a Harley Davidson motorcycle repair shop but found it difficult to focus owing to constant headaches, he told the National Post.
Mr. Peat told The New York Times that NHL team doctors regularly prescribed him Percocet, which contains oxycodone; and he spent years after his career “self-medicating” with prescription painkillers that he obtained from doctors or bought off the street. He also admitted to cocaine use and drank alcoholic beverages but considered pain to be his main problem, rather than addiction, the Times reported.
While battling his health woes, he also ran afoul of the law on several occasions. In 2015, he was convicted for burning down his father’s house after a blowtorch set a mattress in the garage ablaze. Mr. Peat contended that he left the blowtorch on accidentally but pleaded guilty to arson charges related to uninhabitable property and negligence. He was sentenced to a year of probation.
Walter Peat told The New York Times that his son was jailed at times for probation breaches. The father also told The New York Times and CBC that he had obtained a no-contact order against Stephen.
The former player sought help through a joint NHL and NHL Players behavioural-health program after becoming troubled by his mother’s death and the deaths of other ex-enforcers. The New York Times reported that he spent two stints in rehabilitation facilities, the second after the arson charges, and also received financial assistance from the NHL’s Emergency Players’ Assistance Fund.
During his final years, Mr. Peat lived out of his truck for an extended period of time and bounced between friends’ couches and another buddy’s fifth-wheel trailer, Mr. Zaron said. His whereabouts were often unknown.
Mr. Zaron always left some Gatorade and granola bars outside his Langley, B.C., home for Mr. Peat.
“If the Gatorade and granola bars were gone, that just told me: He’s okay. Not great, but okay. I usually went down and tried to find him every few weeks, and most of the time I had success. Sometimes I didn’t. I tried to feed him as much as I could, or as much as he would allow me to.”
Mr. Zaron also sought to reassure Mr. Peat that all of his buddies were “waiting for him” and willing to help whenever he asked.
Mr. Peat’s troubled life ended tragically. He was struck by a car at 4:15 a.m. on Aug. 30, while walking across a main street in Langley in an area near a homeless shelter. He was transported to a hospital with life-threatening injuries and died about two weeks later, according to a statement from the NHL Alumni Association.
Mr. Zaron said Mr. Peat’s life shows the need to keep trying to support friends and family even if their resistance causes frustration. He would like to see compulsory treatment for ex-enforcers experiencing concussion-related problems.
“If there’s a lesson to be learned, I would say: Let’s not give up on these guys,” Mr. Zaron said.
Mr. Peat leaves his father and other relatives. He was predeceased by his mother and brother.
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