Sports

WBS penguins training camp

JENKINS TWP. – Aaron Boogaard is old school.

At a time when hockey is looking to shed its tough-guy image, Boogaard is a skating, talking throwback to its rough-and-tumble past.

If you have any doubts all you have to do is check the box scores from the recently completed prospects’ tournament that the Penguins won up in Kitchener, Ontario.

Boogaard fought four times in the four-game tourney.

Then there are his numbers from juniors.

Last year, he had three times as many fights (18) as any of his Tri-City Americans teammates.

And, if that’s not enough to convince you that the 6-foot, 215-pound winger out of Regina, Saskatchewan, takes his enforcer role seriously, how about the fact that during his spare time in the summer he teaches 11- and 12-year-olds to fight.

“We had some 17-year-olds too,” Boogaard said when asked about the Derek and Aaron Boogaard Fighting Camp that he runs along with his brother, an NHL enforcer. “There was a lot of controversy. But that’s just people’s assumptions. They see ‘Fight Camp’ and their first impression is that it’s brutal, backwards hockey.

“But the people who went and didn’t automatically assume the worst, they know that we just showed the kids a couple of things on how to fight defensively, so they won’t get hurt if they get jumped by a bigger person.”

The kinds of tricks that might have saved Canadiens defenseman Andrew Archer – destroyed in a lopsided fight with NHL Pens enforcer Georges Laraque on Monday – a trip to the hospital.

“(Not fighting Laraque) would probably be Rule No. 1,” Boogaard said.

Boogaard is a former Minnesota Wild draft pick. He signed with the Penguins last spring after wrapping up his junior career with Tri-City.

He was with the Penguins during their second-round playoff series against Hershey but never dressed.

This year, he’s looking forward to sharing the enforcer duties with Dennis Bonvie, who Boogaard calls “an AHL God” and a “guru.”

“That’s a big opportunity for me,” Boogaard said. “Everybody knows about Dennis Bonvie. He’s just going out as I’m just going in. I’m going to take every chance I can to learn whatever I need to so I can be successful in this league and the next one from him.”

And it’s not just Bonvie that Boogaard is learning from.

In his first pro camp, the 21-year-old is gladly taking any advice his elders have to offer – even if the elder in question is only four years older than he is.

Boogaard, who will likely engage in his first pro fight during this Saturday’s exhibition opener with the rival Hershey Bears, said he got a valuable tip from 25-year-old teammate Deryk Engelland.

“Engelland was telling me about how last year when he fought Bonvie, he thought way too much about it,” Boogaard said when asked how he feels about taking on an older, more experienced fighter. “Try to put it in the back of your mind and not think too much about it. Hopefully, when it happens, I’ll do my best.”