Boogaard fighting for his teammates

While forwards like Jeff Taffe, Chris Minard, and Janne Pesonen are generating offense and putting pucks in the net, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton's Aaron Boogaard is playing policeman.

The rookie forward is throwing his six-foot-one, 215-pound frame around and dropping the gloves to make sure other teams don't take liberties with the Penguins' skilled players.

"It's the toughest job in hockey," Boogaard said. "Someone's gotta do it. Without that, I wouldn't have a job."

Boogaard was a seventh round draft pick of the Minnesota Wild in 2004. However, the Wild never signed Boogaard to a contract, and instead selected two other tough guys – Matt Kassian and Riley Emmerson – in the 2005 National Hockey League entry draft.

Boogaard has a history with the duo that dates back to junior hockey. He has dueled with Kassian five times in his career and was Emmerson's teammate for two seasons.

"It's tough looking yourself in the mirror and realizing that those two people took your spot, but I think I've done well," Boogaard said. "I've climbed the ladder. I had two good seasons in junior, good enough to get signed."

In his final two seasons of junior hockey, Boogaard was involved in 39 fights and amassed 384 penalty minutes. He also contributed 16 goals and 15 assists for 31 points. The Pittsburgh Penguins took notice and signed Boogaard to a contract at the conclusion of his junior career.

"When he can perfect his game, I think he can be a strong, strong physical force for us," said Wilkes-Barre/Scranton coach Dan Bylsma.

"It's not realistic that I'm going to score twenty goals in this league." Boogaard said. "I gotta do what I gotta do, just work hard, come to the rink everyday, plan on getting better, stand up for the guys, and if we need a spark, go out there and start it."

Since Boogaard plays a physical brand of hockey on the ice, it should come as no surprise that he is involved in some fisticuffs off the ice as well.

"Me and my brother are actually registered boxers in Saskatchewan," Boogaard explained. "We've been doing that for the last four years and this summer we got into jujitsu, that (mixed martial arts) stuff."

Boogaard's older brother, Derek, is an AHL graduate who is in his fourth season with the Minnesota Wild. The elder Boogaard, dubbed "The Boogeyman," spent two seasons with the Houston Aeros, amassing 463 penalty minutes in 109 career AHL games.

When the Penguins visited Houston on November 2, the younger Boogaard heard chants of "Boogeyboy" coming from the Houston crowd. He texted his brother afterwards to tell him Houston fans were still cheering the Boogaard name.

While they may be brothers off the ice, once the puck drops, they have jobs to do. If the situation ever arose, Aaron says he would not think twice about fighting Derek.

"The way he plays, obviously somebody's going to have to do something," Boogaard said. "He runs around, hits guys, I'm here to stand up for my teammate. I can't let that happen, so obviously I'm going to have to."