'Boy on Ice' by John Branch Book cover courtesy of publisher

Derek Boogaard was one of the most beloved players for the Minnesota Wild during his brief three-year tenure with the team. As an enforcer, he also was the most feared player in the game, winning most of his fights on ice.

After Boogaard's untimely death in 2011 in Minneapolis from an accidental overdose, John Branch provided extensive reporting on Boogaard for The New York Times.

Branch, a Pulitzer Prize winner, has expanded his initial reporting with a more extensive book detailing Boogaard's life and death. It's a tale of a shy, small-town boy from rural Canada who was always the largest player on the ice, but never the best player, who grew up to achieve his dream of playing in the NHL, but at a cost of concussions, brain damage and prescription painkiller addiction.

Branch joined The Daily Circuit's Tom Weber on Oct. 2 at the University of St. Thomas for the Broadcast Journalist Series to discuss the book.