BY:SCOTT LUO/SEPT 2,2011
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(CNN) -- It's arguably the toughest job in sports.
Hockey enforcers earn the undying devotion of fans -- but not much else -- for their ability to punch and get punched on skates. They usually bounce from team to team, barely managing to get a contract for a role few can perform well and no one else wants.
"I did it because it was my job but I hated it," said Georges Laraque, one of the most successful hockey heavyweights in his 12-year NHL career. "I hated to fight. I hated the pressure. I hated to be called a goon, and an animal. I hated promoting violence."
Laraque spoke to the Cybulski & Company radio program in Canada after the news Wednesday that another former enforcer, Wade Belak, was found dead in his Toronto apartment at age 35. Authorities described the death as nonsuspicious.
It was the third death of a current or former National Hockey League enforcer this summer, an almost unfathomable statistical anomaly. There are 30 NHL teams, and not all of them employ a so-called "hired gun" these days, both to intimidate opposing players and keep them honest.
Derek Boogaard was found dead at age 28 in his Minneapolis home in May, the result of a toxic combination of painkillers and alcohol ruled an accident. Boogaard, one of the most feared NHL fighters at 6-foot-7 and 265 pounds -- he was known as the Boogeyman, hadn't played in months while trying to recover from concussions sustained in on-ice bouts.
In August, 27-year-old Rick Rypien was found dead in his home in Crowsnest Pass, Alberta, Canada. No official cause has been announced, but Rypien had a history of depression and was on personal leave from the Vancouver Canucks for much of last season. He signed a contract with the Winnipeg Jets for the coming season.
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Belak's death this week stunned former teammates, who described him as a happy-go-lucky man always cracking jokes, even at his own expense. At 6-foot-5 and well over 200 pounds, Belak developed into a feared heavyweight over a 14-year career with five teams.
He retired from the league last season and was trying to start a broadcasting career. He was chosen to participate in the coming season of "Battle of the Blades," a Canadian version of "Dancing With the Stars" on skates.
While few answers regarding Belak's death have emerged so far, Laraque provided some insight in describing the life of the hockey enforcer.
The worst part is not the fighting itself, he said, because the adrenaline kicks in and you don't feel the blows. Instead, what weighs heaviest is the constant pressure of knowing you will have to fight another enforcer such as Boogaard or Belak, game after game, according to Laraque.
"It's the night before, the day of the game, before it starts," he said. "It's the shivers that it gives you, the worry in the head and the brain. It's when you go to a movie and you can't watch it because you're thinking the next game about having to fight Derek Boogaard or someone like that. Or you don't feel well, but something happens and you have to go out there. ... It's that pressure that's nonstop that you live with."
For that reason, he said, enforcers past and present have "demons" they live with, and often turn to alcohol to deal with them.
In addition, enforcers don't earn the multimillion-dollar salaries of top scorers, defensemen or goalies, Laraque noted.
"For as many years that they played, many of those guys didn't make much money, so there are not options for them afterwards," Laraque said. "You have to fight to live when life after hockey is over, and there's nothing for you."
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