Canucks' Brock Boeser on father's health issues: 'It's really hitting me hard'

Vancouver Canucks forward Brock Boeser has been fairly private about his father’s health, but on Sunday during player exit interviews, he let the hockey world in on his family’s battle.

Boeser hasn’t had the best of seasons statistically – scoring 46 points in 71 games – and when asked if the troubles at home took a toll on him, Boeser opened up.

“Yeah, to say the least. It was really hard,” Boeser said.

Then, when asked if his father is doing okay, the 25-year-old winger started to get emotional and at first couldn’t speak. A teammate that was at the media availability with Boeser stepped in to keep the interview moving along, but the Canucks winger decided to give an answer.

“He’s not doing well,” Boeser continued as he was visibly getting more emotional. “He has pretty bad dementia right now. It’s onset. It’s gotten pretty, pretty bad this year. It’s really hitting me hard.”

Boeser opened up about his father’s health struggles back in 2020, and made it public that he was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease a decade prior and has been battling with the disorder ever since. But through tears, the young winger expressed how torn up he was about it recently getting worse with the dementia diagnosis.

Shortly after answering the question, Boeser had to leave the room.

The Minnesota native is clearly beloved within the locker room and his teammates have shown their support over the years. Elias Pettersson donated all of his All-Star Game winnings to local Parkinson’s organizations in Minnesota and Vancouver. And during the same media availability on Sunday, Hughes mentioned how he wants the best for Boeser.

“We’re gonna need Brock to be really good if we want to be good,” Hughes said. “I think it’s important for him to go home to Minnesota and spend good quality time with his family and enjoy the summer and then come back ready to go. I think he’ll do that. He’s a motivated kid. And he’ll be fine. He’s gonna come back, he's gonna have a great year next year.”

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