Today marks 12 years from his sudden passing at age 27. Rypien suffered from mental illnesses, which had the best of him on August 15th, 2011, weeks after he had signed a contract with the Jets through free agency.
Both the Canucks and the Jets rallied and issued the following statements:
The Jets joined hands and issued their own statement acknowledging Rypien, who had spent time in the Manitoba Moose organization, now the Jets' AHL affiliate:
Rypien played a total of 119 NHL games, all with the Canucks. The Canucks have, since then, worked to develop The Hockey Talks mental health awareness initiative to honour the fallen hero.
POLL | ||
15 AOUT | 535 ANSWERS LATEST | Canucks and Jets issue statement regarding Rick Rypien It's ok not be okay | ||
Speak Up | 175 | 32.7 % |
Reach out | 156 | 29.2 % |
There is help out there | 204 | 38.1 % |
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