There are some interesting clues about Rick Rypien's death in this statement by Jets's Craig's Heisinger:







He makes note of an odd Twitter feed and Rypien's grandmother confirming "the incident". Also he says he didn't think "anything would trigger it leading up". There was also the note of "something happening quickly" or everyone missing the boat.



I don't know which of the odd Twitter feeds he's referring to specifically, but the Twitterverse started blowing up on August 15 that Rick had committed suicide. The first real concrete news on this came from a family member. Angela Rypien, Ryan's cousin who first tweeted:



Please keep my family and I in your prayers on this very difficult day today!



This was retweeted by James Mirtle, a hockey reporter for the Globe and Mail based in Toronto that writes about the NHL who then tweeted 3 hours later:



Police confirm former Vancouver Canucks tough guy Rick Rypien has been found dead in his Alberta home. More to come.



A short time later, Angela tweeted:



I will never forget today and what sadness and hurt it has brought upon my family! and R.I.P Rick Rypien, I love you so much and will miss you more than anything!



Now, these are just speculations as to the "odd twitter feed" Zinger is referring to, but it would make sense. However, apparently Bob McKenzie (broadcaster with Canada's TSN) posted on twitter that Rypien plus Bogosian had been traded to Montreal for Kostitsyn and Tinordi. Now he's removed the tweet.



Zinger never mentioned a cause of death or specifics to Rick's personal problems in his statement. Most agencies are still reporting the death was of unknown cause. However, the Toronto Sun is reporting that Rypien suffered from depression which would tend to support the suicide claims. This is something that is hinted at by the Canucks, the Jets, and others.



This seems a little contradictory to the Vancouver Sun reported on March 8 after being reassigned to Manitoba following a leave of abscense.



“(The issues) are behind me and one thing I want to 100% clarify is that there’s no substance abuse at all — it’s the farthest thing from it,” said Rypien. “This is a personal matter. It’s kind of a rare issue and even though it’s taken me away from the game I love, doing the work I’ve done the last couple of months I’ve made a lot of gains as a person and as an individual."



Yes, I've talked about this before. It would appear that Rick is talking about depression except for his quote of "kinda a rare issue". Here's a few depression facts:



•Major depression is the leading cause of disability in the United States

•Depression affects almost 10% of the population, or 19 million Americans, in a given year

•During their lifetime, 10%-25% of women and 5%-12% of men will become clinically depressed



Now, if Rick had been getting depression treatment, I would assume he would have been made aware that it is actually not all that "rare" but actually somewhat common. So saying it is kinda a rare issue seems out of place. Of course, Rick could have thought perhaps his form of depression (or perhaps depression in professional athlethes) was rare, but that's what made me initially skeptical of the depression/suicide thought. However, the more things come to light, that scenerio seems the most plausible.



The funeral is set for Saturday. One would assume more will come to light then, at least.