Winger Pascal Dupuis is one of three players to deal with blood clots; the first time was after an ACL tear last season, and the second cropped up back in November.
“What the hell is going on over there?” is a valid question to ask, particularly when you hear that Dupuis played five games after first experiencing chest pain from the clot. Dupuis, though, gave the team’s medical staff the all-clear in a really interesting first-person piece at The Players Tribune.
From Dupuis:
That’s good, as is Dupuis’ resolution to play again, despite being 35 with a major knee injury and a narrowly avoided stroke. Once again, though, a hockey player was too tough for his own good. Getting stitched up is one thing; flying with a blood clot is another. Please, hockey players, stop doing that stuff.
I went to our team’s head trainer, Chris Stewart. “Hey Stewie, I think I maybe felt something,” I said. I might want to go get checked.” We were supposed to leave for Montreal.
He and the doctors told me that if I didn’t get checked out I wasn’t coming on the trip. Our training staff and doctors have been unbelievable. The fact that I played five games was not on them. I’m the one who kept it to myself. As soon as I gave them a little hint that something was wrong, Dr. (Dharmesh Vyas) and the team were right on top of it.
