The charge was dismissed in October 2011, at the same time he pleaded guilty to tampering with the scene of a death, a misdemeanor, since he had admitted to police that he had flushed the remaining pills down the toilet before they arrived. He was sentenced to probation and 80 hours of community service. After his brain was removed for the SLI study, Boogaard's body was cremated. His mother keeps the ashes in an informal shrine to her son in her home in Regina. The next season, the Wild paid tribute to Boogaard with a highlight video and moment of silence. His family was presented with flowers, a painting of Boogaard and a framed jersey at centre ice. While the circumstances of Boogaard's death were not in doubt, it raised some questions about how it might have been prevented. Two similar deaths led to a debate over the issues faced by hockey enforcers and even their continuing role in the game, as well as the NHL's attitude toward the health problems resulting from concussions. Boogaard's father has also expressed concern over the way his son's drug abuse was handled and possibly enabled by the teams he played for. Four months after Boogaard's death, two enforcers, Rick Rypien and the retired Wade Belak, died as well. Rypien, who was also in his late 20s, committed suicide. The 35-year-old Belak's death was described initially as a suicide but family and friends say it was accidental. Both had also suffered from depression, like Boogaard. The deaths led some former enforcers and sportswriters to question whether the league was doing enough to deal with the effects of the many concussions enforcers suffered and the stress of their role. Georges Laraque, a successful enforcer who had retired recently, said he had never liked being one despite the long career and adulation it brought him. Many other enforcers drank heavily to deal with the anxiety of knowing that they would have to fight every game. Don Cherry, a former Boston Bruins coach now a popular and controversial television commentator, responded by calling second-guessers such as Laraque "pukes" and "hypocrites". In December "The New York Times" devoted a lengthy three-part series to Boogaard's life and death that addressed many of the issues. While the league has taken some steps to address the concussion problem, most recently in banning blindside hits to the head and requiring that players suffering head injuries be examined in a quiet room away from the bench, it is still not convinced that the CTE found in Boogaard and other players posthumously is a direct result of their hockey careers.