Thin Chance That Stamkos Will Play In Playoffs https://t.co/nNLsa9JeJE pic.twitter.com/IaiBGvZOEE
— SabresBuzz (@SabresBuzz) April 4, 2016
The Tampa Lightning have announced that the surgery performed today in their captain Steven Stamkos was successful.
The surgical procedure was performed to treat a type of Vascular Thoracic Outlet Syndrome (called Effort Thrombosis) which was located near his right collarbone.
Bolts VP and GM Steve Yzerman announced that the two-hour procedure was performed at Tampa General Hospital by Dr. Karl Illig, Director of Vascular Surgery at the University of South Florida.
Stamkos is expected to fully recover and he should be able to return to the ice in 1-3 months.
“Everything went as expected for Steven today,… said Dr. Illig after the procedure. “We plan to re-evaluate him in about two weeks and we should know more about his prognosis at that time.…
Stamkos is now on a prescription blood thinning medicine which is used to treat blood clots and to lower the chance of blood clots forming in the body. Blood clots can cause a stroke, heart attack, or other serious conditions if they form in the legs, arms, or lungs.
NHL players who are on prescription blood thinners like Coumadin, are not permitted to play in the NHL. The risk of getting cut and suffering injuries that cause bleeding occur on each and every shift in the NHL. How many times on a nightly basis do we see NHLers reach for their mouth or facial area after they are clipped by high sticks? The reason for the strict anti-blood thinner rules in the NHL is simple. Blood thinners are anticoagulants, which are normally used in the prevention of thrombosis and thromboembolism, the formation of blood clots in the blood vessels and their migration elsewhere in the body. Wounds bleed freely and aggressively when a person is taking anticoagulants.
In my opinion, the Tampa Lightning will be eliminated from the Stanley Cup playoffs before Stamkos is cleared to resume playing in games again.
Stamkos will become an unrestricted free agent on July 1.
He is expected to make a full recovery from his blood clot issue which will not impede his abilities to play NHL hockey at his trademark high standard.
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