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Former Canuck Rick Rypien found dead - News1130

COLEMAN, AB (NEWS1130) - Former Vancouver Canucks player Rick Rypien was found dead in his Coleman, Alberta home by a family member on Monday afternoon. He was 27-years-old.

Rypien spent a half dozen seasons in the Canucks organization, where he played 119 games and had nine goals, seven assists and 226 penalty minutes.

He signed a one-year contract with the Winnipeg Jets as a free agent in July. Rypien was familiar with the ownership of the Jets, as that group owned the Canucks farm team, the Manitoba Moose during the forward's time with the Canucks.

With the Canucks, Rypien had taken a couple of leaves of absence during his tenure for personal reasons. His most recent time away from the club came last November. He returned to hockey in the spring and played 18 games in the regular season and playoffs with the Moose in Winnipeg.

Rypien's agent Allain Roy spoke with his client on Saturday morning and said the centre was looking forward to training camp with the Jets next month.

RCMP in southwestern Alberta have told several media outlets, they have confirmed a non-suspicious, sudden death.

Resources
For information and resources on suicide prevention, visit Crisis Intervention and Suicide Prevention Centre of British Columbia, or phone 1-800-SUICIDE in BC.