“A thorough examination is taking place”: what is known about the condition of the hockey player Bowmister who suffered a heart attack

The National Hockey League regular season match between Anaheim and St. Louis was interrupted due to an incident with guest defender Jay Bowmister. During the first period, the representative of the current Stanley Cup winners lost consciousness on the bench and was hospitalized. At the moment, the athlete is conscious and undergoes a medical examination. The date of the remainder of the meeting is still unknown.

The episode occurred 7 minutes 50 seconds before the end of the first period. By this moment, the teams managed to exchange goals: the guests answered Ivan Barbashev's puck with an accurate shot by Adam Henrik. The boumister made a throw into the enemy zone, after which he rode in for a shift.

Jay Bouwmeester collapses on the Blues bench. Game has been delayed pic.twitter.com/wOJkAFANCT

After a few seconds, the game was stopped, and the Blues hockey players headed for the bench when they noticed that their partner had lost consciousness. The first to signal this was the defenders Alex Pietrangelo and Vince Dunn, who were next to Jay at that moment. The medical staff immediately arrived at the scene.

For several minutes, doctors evaluated the condition of Bowmister, after which a decision was made about his hospitalization. After he left the Honda Center venue on a stretcher, the arbitrators decided to suspend the meeting.

“Due to the emergency situation related to the state of health of the Blues defender Jay Bowmister, today's match is postponed to another time. The exact date will be announced later, ”the NHL said.

What happened was a shock for both the partners and the coaching staff of St. Louis, and for the fans of the team. Despite his age, Bowmister was considered one of the team's most physically strong players. According to St. Louis Post-Dispatch, in the offseason he regularly traveled by bicycle through the mountains.

For some time no information was received regarding the state of health of the hockey player himself. Later, the general manager of “St. Louis” Doug Armstrong published an official statement on the club’s website.

“Immediately after the shift, at 7:50 before the end of the first period of today's match, Bowmister had a heart attack on the bench, he lost consciousness. Thanks to the prompt actions of the medical staff of our team, the doctors and the Anaheim massage therapists, we were able to stabilize Jay’s condition, ”Armstrong said in a statement.

As the general manager of the Blues said, when Bowmisters were sent to the hospital, he “was conscious and could move his arms and legs.”

“Now he is still conscious and undergoes a thorough medical examination. We will publish new information about Jay’s health on Wednesday morning, ”Armstrong added.

It is noteworthy that St. Louis annually holds a Dads Trip campaign, in which their fathers fly with the athletes to the game. Thus, Dan Bowmister witnessed the incident with his son and volunteered to accompany him to the University of California hospital.

It is worth noting that the 36-year-old Bowmister is the oldest player in the current Stanley Cup winners. Throughout the past season, there have been rumors about the possible completion of an athlete’s career due to not very successful results, but Jay managed to get in shape and shockly spent the ending of the championship. So, he completed the regular season with 17 (3 + 14) points and a “-3” utility indicator, but he changed his playoffs and became the best in this aspect (“+9”). Except striker Jaden Schwartz can boast similar numbers.

In the course of this season, Boomister admitted that he would like to play in the next, but noted that he had not yet discussed this issue with the leadership of the Blues. The defender said that the club has someone to worry about, hinting at the situation surrounding the extension of the contract of captain Alex Pietrangelo.

The hockey community reacted to the situation with the Bowmaster. Thus, the Anaheim press service addressed the family of the defender “their thoughts and best wishes,” and Washington striker TJ Oshi admitted that he “prays for Bo.”

It is worth noting that the last time a similar incident happened in the NHL in 2014. Then, during the match with Columbus, Rich Peverly suffered a heart attack. Forward “Dallas” lost consciousness on the bench and was hospitalized. After that, he was no longer able to return to the ice and six months later announced the end of his career.