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Henrik Lundqvist announces he will not play for Capitals next season due to a heart condition

By Ian Oland

 9 Comments

December 17, 2020 1:09 pm

Henrik Lundqvist just announced some shocking news. He will not be playing for the Washington Capitals next season due to a heart condition.

A saddened Lundqvist revealed his diagnosis on his social media accounts, Thursday afternoon.

Lundqvist’s note reads:

It breaks my heart (literally) to share this news: I will not be joining the Capitals this upcoming season. After many weeks of tests and conversations with specialists around the country, it’s been determined that a heart condition will prevent me from taking the ice. Together, we have decided that the risk of playing before remedying my condition is too high, so I will spend the coming months figuring out the best course of action.

For the past two months, I’ve been so inspired by the opportunity to play in DC and committed to my game. Spending every day at the rink to prepare for the upcoming season. The news was very difficult to process but after the last test result earlier this week, we knew there was only one way to go from here.

I want to thank the entire Capitals organization for not only giving me this opportunity but also for their support throughout this challenging time. I will take the next few weeks to be with my family and I’ll be back to share the next steps.

Lundqvist also shared a video message through the Capitals and you can hear the pain in his voice.

Lundqvist said:

Hey, Caps fans. Today is a pretty tough and emotional day for me. For several weeks now, I’ve been undergoing several different tests related to a heart condition and after lots of discussions with doctors around the country and finally receiving the last results this week, I, unfortunately, won’t be unable to join the team this year and [will] continue the process to fix these issues. I can say for the past two months, I felt so inspired and committed to preparing myself for this season. The daily skates and workouts and just the thought of playing in DC really brought me lots of excitement. It’s still very hard for me to process all of this and kind of shocking to be honest. But with the experts involved, I know this is the only way of action. I want to thank the entire Washington Capitals organization for giving me this opportunity and also for all the support they’ve shown during this challenging time. I will now take some time to spend with my family and also take the necessary steps to recovery. I want to wish you, all the fans, all the best. I also want to wish the team, best of luck during the upcoming season. Take care, guys.

The Washington Capitals posted a statement saying that they “are supportive of Henrik’s decision to step away from hockey at this time due to his heart condition. Our players’ health is of the utmost importance, and we stand behind Henrik’s decision. We want to wish him and his family all the best moving forward.”

Gary Bettman also responded to the news, saying “while we are all saddened as hockey fans that we will not be able to watch Henrik tend goal for the Capitals this season, we are also thankful that he will be getting the necessary medical care to deal with his heart condition. Henrik is a beloved player across the NHL and throughout his native Sweden and a wonderful ambassador for the game. We wish him and his family well.”

Lundqvist signed a one-year, $1.5 million contract with the Capitals in October after being bought out by the New York Rangers. Lundqvist spent 15 seasons in The Big Apple and is the sixth-winningest goalie in NHL history.

The Swedish legend was set to serve as a mentor and split starts with young star Ilya Samsonov next season. Lundqvist’s absence means the Capitals will likely turn to Vitek Vanecek or Pheonix Copley to be a backup next season.

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