{"id":104402,"date":"2025-07-30T09:05:08","date_gmt":"2025-07-30T09:05:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/104402\/"},"modified":"2025-07-30T09:05:08","modified_gmt":"2025-07-30T09:05:08","slug":"henrik-lundqvist-opens-up-about-heart-condition-that-forced-him-into-retirement-with-capitals-i-felt-like-i-had-at-least-three-more-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/104402\/","title":{"rendered":"Henrik Lundqvist opens up about heart condition that forced him into retirement with Capitals: \u2018I felt like I had at least three more years\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Washington Capitals legend Henrik Lundqvist<\/strong> saw his 15-year NHL career cut short by an unfortunate health scare. The Hockey Hall of Fame goaltender was forced to hang up his skates at the advisement of his doctors in 2021<\/a> after developing \u201crecurring pericarditis\u201d in the months following open-heart surgery to fix a leaky valve and other ailments.<\/p>\n

The now-43 year old opened up about the rollercoaster of emotions he experienced on the \u201cSpittin\u2019 Chiclets Podcast\u201d on Tuesday<\/a>, recalling his \u201cI\u2019m not done\u201d moment in the off-season following his goodbye to New York Rangers fans.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen my time in New York was over, I really thought I was going to hang it up, I couldn\u2019t see myself playing anywhere else, like it was impossible. But then I remember a month, two month after\u2026 I went to the rink just to skate and I loved it,\u201d he recollected. \u201cI was not done, I could feel it. In my body and in my head I felt like I had at least three more years, I felt great.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lundqvist spoke with multiple teams about continuing his pro career and landed on the Caps, describing the organization and city as \u201cthe best match for me, [my] family, where I\u2019m at in my career.\u201d<\/p>\n

He signed a one-year deal with the club<\/a> but never made his on-ice debut. His first meetings with team doctors eventually put his final act on hold.<\/p>\n

\u201cI knew I had a condition where my valve was leaky, I\u2019ve known that for years. I knew at some point, [I\u2019m] probably going to have to do something. But it was steady for so many years,\u201d he explained. \u201cAnd then that fall, already first meetings with the doctors in Washington, \u2018What do you think about this?\u2019 \u2026 I\u2019ll never forget it, I brought up like bags to pack and go to Washington\u2026 and [we] have a call with the doctors and they [say], \u2018No, no all the tests, everything is actually worse than we thought,\u2019 \u2026 and then my aorta was too big so we needed to replace that and the valve was hanging on, so, yeah, it\u2019s kind of an easy decision to say, \u2018I have to do it.\u2019 If it was in the gray area, I would\u2019ve told my wife, \u2018I\u2019m doing this. I\u2019m gonna play.\u2019 But when you hear that, you knew there\u2019s no going back.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite being aware of his heart issue for most of his playing career, Lundqvist found it eye-opening to learn how much deeper his ailment actually went.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had it for many years, I didn\u2019t know about the aorta,\u201d he described. \u201cThen the pressure in my heart, that happened over time and put a lot of stress on it but the valve itself, probably born with it. It was just not closing well enough.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lundqvist starred in a Netflix documentary on his health journey titled \u201cOpen Heart\u201d<\/a> which debuted in North America last May. He revealed Tuesday that it was originally supposed to document his NHL comeback before post-surgery complications arose.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s funny, when I start to think about maybe telling my story it was more about, not just my career, more the power of being in a good place mentally,\u201d he said. \u201cI think we all go through stuff in life where everything just gets turned upside down. How do you deal with that? How do you find happiness? And I did, so I was like, \u2018Wow this is cool, how do I tell this story?\u2019 But I want to show when I come back to the NHL. That was my mindset. Kinda the road back.\u201d<\/p>\n

His big return, in his eyes, was supposed to be joining the Caps for the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust a few months after surgery I was really close to coming back, I reached out to Washington, \u2018Okay I\u2019m ready, I\u2019ll come join you guys in April,\u2019 like a couple weeks before the playoffs,\u201d he describe. \u201cI was skating hard for a month and a half, felt unreal\u2026 The first couple weeks after open heart [surgery] I was not walking, every week got better and better\u2026 In my head, I was coming back\u2026 A month and a half on the ice, I was just a week away to join the Caps and I had the follow up test for the surgery, and I had a lot of chest pain. So I told them about that concern, \u2018What\u2019s going on there?\u2019 I thought it was related to the surgery, but unfortunately for me I had pericarditis \u2013 which is inflammation around the heart. Created somehow, we don\u2019t know why.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt can happen after surgery but like three months out, so maybe I had a virus in my body, something that kind of attacked the heart,\u201d he continued. \u201cMost people have it one time and it\u2019s gone. For me, unfortunately, I had recurring pericarditis, so it kept coming back. So instead of going to Washington, we shut it down, I think it was like six months later I tried going back on the ice and it came back. And then when it came back, I knew, \u2018It\u2019s over.\u2019 That\u2019s when I retired.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lundqvist, who came one overtime Game 7-winning goal short of lifting the Stanley Cup in 2014, lamented that his condition denied him one last shot at a championship campaign.<\/p>\n

\u201cI definitely found peace in it,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was never meant to be.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, he\u2019s still proud of the elite achievements on his career resume, topped with having his no. 30 retired by the Rangers at Madison Square Garden<\/a> the very next year.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s hard\u2026 when you feel like you have more to give,\u201d he said. \u201cHonestly, physically, mentally, I felt so good but I knew I can\u2019t fight this thing. So, it was time to hang it up. But me only playing for the Rangers, it was meant to be, looking back at it\u2026 I know I made the right decision to hang it up when I did.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lundqvist currently serves as a studio analyst for \u201cThe NHL on TNT\u201d and for MSG Network\u2019s broadcasts of Rangers games.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Washington Capitals legend Henrik Lundqvist saw his 15-year NHL career cut short by an unfortunate health scare. The…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":104403,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[42],"tags":[293,62,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-104402","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nhl","8":"tag-nhl","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-united-states","11":"tag-unitedstates","12":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114941390019809086","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104402","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=104402"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104402\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/104403"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=104402"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=104402"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=104402"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}