Former Minnesota Wild Player Now Homeless: Report

Over the course of 10 seasons, Matt Johnson made $6 million playing the unofficial role of "enforcer" in the National Hockey League. Johnson played the final four seasons of his career for the Minnesota Wild. He was captain of the team in 2002. He hasn't played in the NHL since the league's 2004-2005 lockout that canceled an entire season of hockey.

Thirteen years later, Johnson has fallen into "a dark place," his mother told the Canada-based Sports Network. They haven't see him for a decade.

Johnson is currently homeless and lives on the streets of Santa Monica, according to his former financial advisor, Scott Bye. The millions he made playing professional hockey are all gone.

Life after hockey was rough on Johnson. Without the structure, camaraderie and adrenaline that come with the NHL, his mental health deteriorated and his previous struggles with alcohol and substance abuse grew worse, according to his parents.

An NHL "enforcer" is tasked with aggressively checking and even fighting his opponents. It was Johnson's job to punish players who inflicted pain on hockey legend Wayne Gretzky when they both played for the Los Angeles Kings.

After more than 100 fights in the NHL, Johnson's mother wonders if he suffered severe brain damage, including Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE).

Johnson would not be the only Wild player to have had his life altered by brain damage. Another former Wild enforcer, Derek Boogaard, suffered from CTE, the New York Times reported. Boogard died in 2011 at age 28 from an alcohol overdose.

"The public doesn’t want to hear it, really, seriously," Lee told TSN. "They have an idea that their sports heroes are their sports heroes and that’s it. They want to remember the high times, not the low times. Nobody wants to remember the low times. Only the people who live with it."

Read the entire story at The Sports Network.

Photo credit: AP Photo/Ann Heisenfelt