Guelph native collapses during NHL game
Posted Mar 11, 2014 05:41:02 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Guelph native and Dallas Stars centre Rich Peverley collapsed on the bench in the middle of a game Monday.
The 31 year old was later taken to a hospital conscious and the game between the Stars and Columbus Blue Jackets was postponed.
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“When he dropped, it was red alert,” Ruff said after the game between Dallas and Columbus was postponed with the Blue Jackets leading 1-0 in the first period. “Don’t worry about the game. It was about getting the doctors. The players don’t want to play, and I don’t want to coach the team right now.” said Dallas Stars Head Coach, Lindy Ruff.
Dr. Gil Salazar of UT Southwestern Hospitals said Peverley was treated “successfully” for a cardiac event at American Airlines Center.
“We provided oxygen for him,” Salazar said. “We started an IV. We did chest compressions on him and defibrillated him, provided some electricity to bring a rhythm back to his heart, and that was successful with one attempt, which is very reassuring.
“As soon as we treated him, he regained consciousness. He was able to tell me where he was.”
Many in the hushed crowd lingered long after the postponement was announced “as a result of the emotional state of the players on both teams caused by the medical emergency.” The NHL didn’t say when the game would be rescheduled.
Peverley’s wife, Nathalie, accompanied her husband to a hospital, and the Stars essentially told the Blue Jackets they weren’t up for finishing the game.
“They’re shaken and they want to reschedule. We understand that,” John Davidson, the Blue Jackets president of hockey operations, told Fox Sports Ohio. “They were shaken to the core.”
Peverley missed the preseason and the season opener because of a procedure to correct an irregular heartbeat, a condition diagnosed during a training camp physical. He made his Stars debut on Oct. 5 against Washington.
“We monitor him closely for a different type of arrhythmia he has,” Salazar said. “He does have a pre-existing condition, and the condition — a normal quivering of the heart that does not allow him to send blood to places where he needs to, in his brain and heart.”
Peverley sat out last week’s game at Columbus because of an irregular heartbeat. He had felt strange after last Monday’s game and couldn’t fly. He played in Dallas’ next two games before Monday.
“There wasn’t any concern,” Ruff said. “Our doctors have done a fabulous job monitoring the situation.”
Peverley, a former member of the Boston Bruins, brought the Stanley Cup to Guelph in the summer of 2011, when the Bruins beat Vancouver in the league final.
