Through his Twitter account this morning, former Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist announced that his open heart surgery went really well.
In mid-December, Lundqvist announced that he would have to miss the entire 2020-21 season after it was determined that he was suffering from a heart condition that required surgery. The surgery, which he also announced only last week, was to have an aortic valve replacement, aortic root, and ascending aortic replacement.
The 38-year-old was set to join the Washington Capitals after being bought out by the New York Rangers in the off-season. The King spent 15-seasons in The Big Apple, after coming over from Sweden.
Lundqvist was drafted in the seventh round, 205th overall by the New York Rangers in the 2000 NHL Entry Draft. In 887 regular season games, he has a record of 459 wins, 310 losses, 96 overtime/shootout losses, a 2.43 G.A.A., a .918 save percentage, and 64 shutouts. In 130 career playoff games, he has a record of 61 wins, 67 losses, a 2.30 G.A.A., a .921 save percentage, and 10 shutouts.
For his efforts during the 2011-12 season, Lundqvist won the Vezina Trophy as the league's best goaltender.
Internationally, Lundqvist has represented Sweden on multiple occasions, most recently at the 2019 IIHF World Hockey Championships. In 6 games, he had 4 wins, 2 losses, a 2.84 G.A.A., an .887 save percentage, and 1 shutout as Sweden went on to finish 5th after losing to their rivals, Finland, in the quarter-finals.
Lundqvist has also represented Sweden at three Winter Olympics. In 2006, he backstopped Sweden to gold after defeating Finland in the final. In 2014, he helped Sweden make it to the Gold Medal Game, but ultimately lost to a very strong Team Canada. For his efforts in the 2014 Olympics, he was named to the tournament All-Star team.
We wish Henrik a speedy recovery, and all the best in the coming weeks, and months.
Day 3. Surgery went really well. About 5 hours to get it all taken care of. Really appreciate the great staff here at the Clevland Clinic. Last few days has been pretty crazy but feel like I'm in really good hands. Every day is a step in the right direction 👍🏻 pic.twitter.com/wjMTosFWQy— Henrik Lundqvist (@hlundqvist35) January 8, 2021