Tragic life and death of NHL’s Stephen Peat: Tormented 44-year-old lived in his truck and pleaded guilty to arson during turbulent post-hockey days as father blamed the league

Six years before his tragic death, former NHL ally Stephen Peat gave a poignantly prophetic summary of his feelings.

I can’t even describe it [the pain] “at this moment,” he said CBC“I feel like my head is going to fall off,” Peat said.

“But I’m fine. I mean, what can I do? Hopefully not die.”

Peat, 44, struggled with chronic headaches, addiction and depression — all symptoms associated with CTE — after his 130 games in the NHL, and his life sadly ended in homelessness.

According to AP, he died this week from injuries he sustained when he was hit by a car while crossing the street on August 30.

Peat, who faced the camera, worked as an enforcer in the NHL and often fought opponents

While no one can say for sure what contributed to his physical and mental health problems, his family and friends are convinced that his time in the NHL as an enforcer (someone whose primary job is to fight players on opposing teams) — and the concussions that resulted — are to blame.

Peat, who played for the NHL’s Washington Capitals from 2001 to 2006, later struggled with drug and alcohol addiction, abusing painkillers and alcohol and also showing signs of memory loss.

He described to the New York Times how he was routinely prescribed Percocet throughout his career and “self-medicated” with prescription painkillers after his playing days were over. There was also talk of cocaine use and he tried to combat his substance abuse problems by going to rehab.

After his last hockey career, Peat found various jobs. In the 2006-2007 season, he played one game in the American Hockey League.

He once worked as a bouncer and when he spoke to the Times, he had found work as a gardener.

But as headaches and anxiety became more common in his life, Peat became embroiled in legal trouble.

He was convicted of minor offences, such as driving without a license and making threats.

Peat is believed to have died from his injuries after being hit by a car while crossing the street

But things got much worse in 2016 when he pleaded guilty to arson – and to “arson by negligence” – after setting fire to his father’s home in British Columbia, Canada.

Peat claimed the incident was an accident but said he pleaded guilty to “avoid the publicity surrounding a trial.”

He avoided prison and received only a year’s probation, but the incident left a lasting scar.

“Part of me thought, I want to sit here and burn this house down,” Peat told the Times. “Because I knew what the consequences would be if I did something like that and made a fool of myself like that. It wasn’t the first tragedy in my life, you know?”

While Peat spent time in rehab to address his drug and alcohol addiction, his father noted that “the root cause of his pain” needed to be addressed, not just his dependency on pills.

Peat had a criminal record as a convicted arsonist, struggled with health problems, and had no steady income. He had a hard time finding a place to rent. In 2015, he said he was sleeping mostly in his truck or on friends’ couches.

The former hockey player did receive help from the NHL, with a spokesperson reportedly contacting him and referring him to a neurologist in Vancouver.

Still, his father blames the NHL for not doing enough to help him, and Peat’s family is reportedly following the class-action lawsuit against the NHL, which alleges the league withheld information about concussions.

The player himself also criticized the league for living in “denial.”

“Hockey is the best thing I’ve ever done, but also the worst,” Peat told the Times.

“It was great when I was playing, but what has it done lately? My enforcers have become statistics and the NHL is in denial. They deny that the job I had even existed, even though I have sacrificed my quality of life, my well-being and my future tremendously to be there for my teammates now.”

Peat, along with the likes of Derek Boorgard, Wade Belak and Rick Rypien, has now joined the tragic list of enforcers who have met an early death.

However, those who know Peat well want to make sure he is not forgotten.

The Washington Capitals, his former team, expressed “their sincere condolences to the family and friends of former Capitals player Stephen Peat. Our thoughts are with his loved ones during this difficult time.”

His friend Howie Zaron had a simple request for the public when it came to remembering Peat, whose role as an enforcer often comes with a bad reputation.

“We just want to make sure that people know that Peaty was a good person. People always want to focus on the struggles, but he was a good person,” Zaron told The province.

“He was a protector, he didn’t like his teammates being pushed.”