Tuesday, November 22, 2005

Sometimes the game IS secondary.

The Detroit Red Wings and Nashville Predators did not finish a hockey game on Monday night, they didn't even finish the first period. The NHL game was called off at the thirteen minute mark, as a more serious situation developed on the Red Wing bench.

Defenceman Jiri Fischer, collapsed on the bench causing grave concern for his health as medical workers worked furiously to try and discover what had happened. Fischer suffered a seizure while on the bench, which resulted in his heart stopping. That sent the medical staff to work with CPR and defibilators, racing to re-start Fischers heart and get him to a hospital.

Fischer was later reported to be in stable condition, breathing on his own and receiving visits from fellow Red Wings who had rushed to be by his side.

The drama unfolded at the Joe Louis Arena after fisheries sixth shift, having logged four minutes and fifty two seconds of ice he was on the bench for a rest when he suddenly suffered the seizure. The Red Wings alerted the on ice officials to the emergency and both teams were sent to their respective dressing rooms. A number of the Red Wings stayed behind to watch, Steve Yzerman and Brendan Shanahan assisting Fischer's fiance across the ice to be by his side.

As time went by, decisions were changed and instead of carrying on with the contest, it was announced that the game would be re-scheduled at a later date. It's probably the first time in current memory that a game has been called because of a medical situation, but more than likely the proper decision was made.

Fischer had previously been diagnosed with a heart abnormality and has had a number of tests done to determine if he was healthy enough to continue his career. With Monday nights incident, it's expected that Fischer will be given a new battery of tests to be sure of his health.

In the end, it's only a game, at 25 Fischer has much more time to spend on our planet, with or without an NHL career.

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