Lundqvist deserves nod as comeback player of the year
As if Alex Smith making what was called “the greatest comeback in NFL history” from a broken right leg that needed 17 surgeries to repair wasn't enough, Washington may be about to witness another sports miracle.
In December, Henrik Lundqvist told the hockey world “it breaks my heart (literally)” that he won't be able to play for his new team, the Washington Capitals, this season because it had been discovered he has a heart condition.
In January, he had open heart surgery for aortic valve, aortic root and ascending aortic replacement procedures.
And on Tuesday, Lundqvist posted rub-your-eyes videos on his Instagram and Twitter accounts, the first of which showing himself in a car.
“Day 47. Back to the rink,” he said. “Love it. Let's do it.”
Another clip showed the 38-year-old on the ice, in full gear, stopping shots while working on his lateral movement at a private rink in New Jersey.
“The best type of workday!” Lundqvist wrote on the Instagram post.
There's more than enough bad news out there these days. This is the opposite. This is the greatest goalie in New York Rangers history giving everybody a boost.
This is one of the most likable people you'll ever meet in the game showing he's got heart.
“Thank God, some good news,” Rangers winger Chris Kreider said after watching the video. “Nothing could warm your heart more than seeing that. I mean, open heart surgery how long ago, and he's already feeling better, already active. You'd expect nothing less from Hank. He's not the kind of guy who is going got sit on his hands and you know he's got to recover actively, I guess. He's a guy who always needs to move.
“But yeah, that's some of the best news I've heard in a long time and we're thrilled for him. Hopefully he's got a lot of hockey left in him and he keeps on progressing and leaves this in his rear-view mirror.”
If Lundqvist plays this season, it would be one of the greatest comebacks in NHL history.
Even if he doesn't, he should be the comeback player of the year for getting this far.
What's in the Washington water?
MISSING A CAPTAIN
If Ottawa was at all confident it could sign Brady Tkachuk to a long-term deal, the kid would have had a `C' sewn on his sweater long ago.
Instead, Ottawa and the Rangers are the only teams in the NHL that don't have a captain.
This is Ottawa's third season without an official on-ice leader. Never before this stretch did the team go a season without a captain.
In 1993-94, it had three: Brad Shaw, Gord Dineen, Mark Lamb.
FLOWER BLOOMS
Remember when the Vegas Golden Knights were trying to trade Marc-Andre Fleury? Good thing they didn't. With Robin Lehner injured, Flower is 8-3-0 while owning a 1.55 GAA and a .942 save percentage.
On Monday, he had a 3-0 win over the Avalanche that was his third shutout of the season, sharing the league lead with John Gibson and Semyon Varlamov.
That gave him 64 on his career, tying him for 16th alltime list with Lundqvist.
Next name on the list for Fleury to leapfrog is Patrick Roy, who had 66 shutouts in 1,029 games. Fleury has played 858.