(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. 
Who is the most recent?
Wade Belak