Dallas Stars forward Rich Peverley will miss the rest of the season
following an incident Monday when he collapsed on the bench because of a
cardiac event.
Peverley fell to the ground with 13:37 left in the first period of his
game against the Columbus Blue Jackets at American Airlines Center. The entire
Dallas bench began screaming for medical attention. Play was stopped mid-game
as medical staff rushed to Peverley’s aide. Everything happened so quickly that
most people were unaware of what was going on. As the seriousness of the
situation presented itself, players and fans became noticeably upset. Players,
coaches, and refs were all sent to their respective locker rooms.
Peverley was transported to The
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. "We successfully treated
him for a cardiac event with standard therapy," Dr. Gil Salazar of UT
Southwestern Emergency Medicine said. "As soon as we treated him, he
regained consciousness. He was alert and talking to us after the event and
quickly got transported to the hospital. I was actually able to talk to him in
the back of the ambulance; he was able to tell me where he was and wanted to
get back into the game."
"Rich
Peverley
is resting comfortably and being monitored at UT Southwestern St. Paul,"
Stars General Manager Jim Nill said in a statement. “The focus of all the
testing and monitoring is being dedicated to finding the cause of the event and
a long-term solution to rectify the problem.”
Peverley has a documented history of heart issues and has been closely
monitored by Stars doctors all season. He took a physical prior to training
camp and it revealed he had an irregular heartbeat. Peverley underwent a
procedure in Cleveland in September and missed all of camp, the entire slate of
preseason games and the first regular-season game for the Stars. He missed a
game March 4 in Columbus because of the issue.
The Peverley incident validates all the work that is being done in
regards to player safety. The medical personnel who first treated Peverley were
in place because of changes during the past decade or so the League has made to
the Emergency Medical Standards for the care of injured NHL players. These are
a set of guidelines that all teams must follow.
"Everything played out and transpired exactly as you would draw it
up, and luckily we had a fortunate result," NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill
Daly said.
Many of the protocols are in place because of a 2005 incident involving
Detroit Red Wings defenseman Jiri Fisher. He suffered an incident similar to
Peverley's during a game. Fischer was given chest compressions on the Detroit
bench and he credits team physician Dr. Tony Colucci with saving his life.
Mathieu Schneider is a special assistant to the executive director for
the NHL Players' Association and he was playing for the Red Wings when Fischer
collapsed. Fischer actually fell on Schneider as Fischer returned to the bench
after his shift.
Schneider relived those memories after witnessing the Peverley incident,
but was relieved at how the situation was handled.
"The League has done a great job over the years to make sure every
safety net is there and available to the guys," he said. "In the two
instances, I've known the doctors have literally saved the players' lives. They
are tremendous doctors and you can't say enough for having them there.”
Peverley spoke to the media during a news conference Wednesday in
Dallas. He read a prepared statement thanking the Stars, team doctors and his
family. He left the press conference after reading his statement without taking
any questions.
Doctors confirmed Peverley's season is over and that he will go to the
Cleveland Clinic for a procedure on his heart. The procedure was initially
planned for the offseason. They were not ready to decide whether it's still
safe for Peverley to resume his hockey career.
The NHL has done such a great job about being prepared for whatever is
thrown at them, but should Peverley be allowed to lace up his skates again? His
documented history of heart issues has become a huge debate after the incident
that took place on Monday. Would the NHL be taking a huge risk letting him
continues his hockey career? The main concern is that Peverley gets the
treatment he needs and can hopefully find a solution so that something like
this never happens again.
