DALLAS (AP) - Rich Peverley doesn’t know when he and his doctors will decide whether he can resume his career after he collapsed during a game because of an irregular heartbeat.
The Dallas Stars aren’t going to press their 31-year-old forward for an answer, either.
Peverley said Tuesday he would have to undergo testing that would include workouts to elevate his heart rate.
“I’m not sure where that will be,” Peverley said before he and his teammates scattered for the summer after a first-round playoff loss to Anaheim. “That will have to be the first thing.”
Coach Lindy Ruff and general manager Jim Nill said all decisions would be up to Peverley and his doctors. Training camp is about five months away.
“That’s a situation I look back on and that’s totally in Rich’s hands - Rich’s hands and the doctor’s hands,” Ruff said. “Sometimes I look at it that it’s in God’s hands too.”
Peverley went down on the bench early in a game against Columbus on March 10 and had to be revived by medical personnel at the arena. He spent a couple of days in the hospital before going to Cleveland for a procedure to try to correct his heart condition, called atrial fibrillation.
The condition was diagnosed in training camp last year, and Peverley chose medication and a quicker return over undergoing the procedure and missing several months. He played most of the season with no issues before the condition flared up about a week before his collapse.
Peverley, who wears a heart monitor on his waist at all times, found a way to contribute late in the season and in the playoffs by offering insights from the press box and giving teammates tips on faceoffs during off days.
“Just being able to help out with the team somehow, it felt like I was accomplishing something,” Peverley said.
The Stars acquired Peverley and leading scorer Tyler Seguin from Boston in an offseason trade. Peverley has a year left on his contract.
“We’ll wait for the doctors,” Nill said. “They’ve got medical things they have to take care of. Once we kind of figure that out, I think we’ll sit down with Rich and kind of decide the game plan moving forward from there.”
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