Thrashers’ Goalie Ondrej Pavelec Released From Hospital, No Timetable For Return

Added on Oct 14, 2010 by J Merrill in

NHL

The Atlanta Thrashers had quite a scare during there recent game with the Washington Capitals. While the puck was in the Capitals zone, goaltender Ondrej Pavelec collapsed on the ice. The fact that this happened behind the play seemed to make it even more startling. Also, when Pavelec collapsed he knocked his head hard on the ice, rendering him unconscious. Medical staff immediately ran to his aid, and Pavelec was eventually taken off the ice on a stretcher. That was the last thing anyone wanted to see.

Pavelec eventually regained consciousness on his way the hospital, and seemed to be in good spirits. After a battery of tests on his blood and his brain, it was determined he had neurocardiogenic syncope episode, or basically a fainting spell. He will continue to undergo tests on his heart, his brain and as well as genetic testing. The main reason given is for precautionary reasons. If the tests come back negative he could be cleared to play when the concussions symptoms subside. He has since been released from the hospital.

Thrashers coach Craig Ramsay said it looked like he just fainted, and maybe the stress from the opening ceremonies cause him to faint. “Really, when it happened, nobody saw it. It was very hard to have a comment on it, but when I talked to him from Tampa, he really sounded good, very alert, was really upbeat.” Coach Ramsay continued “Obviously, he was wondering quite what happened. But his attitude sounded great on the phone and he watched our game, so good news so far.”

Coach Ramsay also said “It’s that home opener, it’s been a big grind to get there, who knows. Sometimes you react to it. Let’s hope that everything is normal and will continue to be normal and he’ll be right back at it.”

Teammate Boris Valabik met up with Pavelec on Sunday when he got out of the hospital. Boris commented “Yeah, I talked to him yesterday, went out to dinner and he seemed fine and was joking around. He actually made some jokes, so that was good. After a serious thing like that, that’s what you want from a guy. You don’t know what to expect, but he seems to be doing pretty well. He’s not able to drive right now, so it looks like I’m going to be his personal driver for a while. That’s the bad news for me. But it’s good.”

Valabik made shocking comment as well “The thing he told me is he couldn’t feel his legs, so that definitely scared him for sure, but then the feelings came back, and he’s feeling just like normal. He’s got a little bump on the back of his head from hitting the ice but at least they know it’s a concussion and he seems to be doing well. It was good to see him because that was a really tough moment.”

The Thrasher’s have been doing the goalie shuffle, but it seems Chris Mason will be handling the duties for the time being. He played the rest of the game, but the thrasher’s like to use him only as a back-up. Mason did say he could handle the responsibility. “’ve had experience handling that kind of workload before. The big thing there is just managing your rest and making sure that you’re not going crazy on the off days and things like that.” He continued “It’s sort of the beginning of the season and the players have to do it, so there’s no reason goalies can’t do it, too.”

Coach Ramsay, or the doctors, are giving any hints on when Pavelec might be back on the ice.