Henrik Lundqvist I won’t be playing for the Washington Capitals this season because of a heart condition.
“Today is a very tough and emotional day for me,” said the 38-year-old goalkeeper in a video on Twitter on Thursday. “For a few weeks now, I’ve been going through various types of tests related to heart disease. And after talking to doctors across the country and finally getting the final results earlier this week, I’m sadly unable to take part in the team this year.
“I have to keep working now to fix these problems.”
Lundqvist signed a $ 1.5 million one-year deal with Washington on October 9, after buying out the final season of his contract on September 30 from the New York Rangers.
“The Washington Capitals support Henrik’s decision to retire from hockey at this point because of his heart disease,” said a statement from the Capitals. “The health of our players is of the utmost importance and we stand behind Henrik’s decision. We would like to wish him and his family all the best for the future.”
Lundqvist said he looks forward to the opportunity to win the Stanley Cup with the Capitals, who won it in 2018 after failing the Rangers in 15 seasons.
He visited the Washington area with his family in October to find accommodation and participated in an informal skate session with some of his new teammates at the MedStar Capitals Iceplex on November 23, before returning to New York.
“I can say that over the past two months I’ve felt so inspired and committed to preparing for the coming season,” said Lundqvist. “The daily skates and workouts and just the thought of playing [in D.C.] really got me very excited. It’s still very hard for me to come to terms with all of this and it’s kind of shocking to be honest. But with the experts involved, I know that this is the only course of action. “
Capital trainer Peter Laviolette said this month that Lundqvist would be competing at training camp with the 23-year-old Ilya Samsonovwho pushed Braden Holtby for the season as a rookie last season to be the starter. Holtby signed a two-year deal with the Vancouver Canucks on October 9th.
“These two guys are going to get a chance to play and I think from there, as always, you look at it and sort things out,” said Laviolette. “Of course I don’t think it’s right to come out and say that this guy is going to start or that this guy is going to start. There will be a training camp.
“I’m fortunate to have two really good goalkeepers: an experienced goalkeeper like Lundqvist who has been through wars and battles and is successful, and then a really young, strong talent like Samsonov who comes in and competes.” and try to grab the crease and make it his. “
Samsonov was 16-6-2 with 2.55 goals against average, a 0.913 percent saving and a shutout last season, but missed the Stanley Cup playoffs with an upper body injury sustained in Russia when the NHL -Season has been suspended due to a break on coronavirus-related concerns. Vitek Vanecek was Holtby’s replacement in Samsonov’s absence, and the 24-year-old rookie is likely the Capitals’ second goalkeeper this season.
“We have another great young goalkeeper in Vitek for the minors who is a really strong candidate,” said Laviolette. “So I’m happy to see him play too. I have the feeling that we are in good shape with the goalkeeper.”
The capitals also have 28-year-old Pheonix Copley, who was Holtby’s replacement in 2018-19 but failed to play in the NHL last season after losing the replacement job at training camp to Samsonov.
Lundqvist was 10-12-3 with an GAA of 3.16, a saving of 0.905 percent and a shutout with the Rangers last season. But with the emergence of Igor Shesterkin and Alexandar GeorgievLundqvist started four of the last 29 games in New York and ended with the fewest games (30), starts (26) and wins of his NHL career.
Lundqvist was selected by the Rangers in the seventh round (# 205) of the 2000 NHL Draft and was 459-310-96 with a GAA of 2.43, a saving of 0.918 percent, and 64 exclusions in 887 games with New York. He is sixth in NHL history in wins, seventh in saves (23,509), eighth in games, ninth in starts (871), ninth in ice (51,816: 19) and 16th in shutouts.
He won the Vezina Trophy, which was voted the best goalkeeper in the NHL in 2011-12, and was a finalist four more times (2005-06, 2006-07, 2007-08, 2012-13).
“I would like to thank the entire Capitals organization for not only giving me this opportunity, but also for their support during this challenging time,” said Lundqvist. “It will take me the next few weeks to be with my family and I’ll be back to share the next steps.”
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