 In 2015, after allegedly suffering from depression for several years, Ewen took his own life.His family wondered if he might have suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy as a result of concussions he had suffered during his playing career, like some other recently deceased NHL enforcers.Although initial tests of his brain came back negative for CTE, subsequent examinations completed by Boston University medical staff did confirm the existence of lesions consistent with stage 2 CTE.