St. Louis Blues defenseman Jay Bouwmeester, who collapsed on the team bench during the first period of an NHL game against the Anaheim Ducks at Honda Center, was doing “very well” at an Irvine hospital Wednesday, according to the team’s general manager.
Bouwmeester suffered the cardiac episode with seven minutes, 50 seconds left in the first period of Tuesday night’s game after completing his shift on the ice, Blues president of hockey operations and general manager Doug Armstrong said Tuesday evening.
Speaking to reporters Wednesday in Las Vegas, Armstrong said medical personnel who tended to Bouwmeester “used a defibrillator to revive him.”
“He regained consciousness immediately and was transferred to the UC Irvine Medical Center,” Armstrong said.
Bouwmeester was alert and moving all of his extremities as he was taken to UC Irvine Medical Center.
Armstrong said Bouwmeester “is doing very well” but is “undergoing a battery of tests to determine the how and why of what happened last night.”
“Things are looking very positive,” Armstrong said.
According to the team, Blues captain Alex Pietrangelo and head athletic trainer Ray Barile went to the hospital Tuesday night, and Bouwmeester was awake and able to FaceTime with the team from his hospital room.
“It made everybody feel a lot better knowing he was in good hands,” Pietrangelo said. “He was in good spirits last night with us, typical Jay, so I think it certainly made us all feel a lot better today knowing we had the opportunity to talk to him.”
The game was postponed following Bouwmeester’s collapse.
The 36-year-old Bouwmeester is his 18th season in the NHL. He was selected by the Florida Panthers with the third choice in the 2002 draft. He played 737 consecutive games from 2004-14, the longest streak by a defenseman in NHL history.
Bouwmeester was acquired by the Blues in a 2013 trade with the Calgary Flames.