Pascal Dupuis: More Blood Clot Symptoms?
The big news out of last night’s Penguins-Oilers game was not the win, or Daniel Sprong’s 2nd NHL goal (almost certainly solidifying his spot on the roster) or anything else along those lines. Instead, it was the heartbreaking (and unfortunately, familiar) news that Pascal Dupuis felt symptoms potentially related to his previous blood clot issues and was taken to a nearby hospital for testing.
Now thankfully, those tests came back negative, and he’ll miss at least the next game as he gets reevaluated in Pittsburgh. Ideally what’s happening is that after the health issues Duper has had in the past, he’s now hypersensitive to potential symptoms and this instance truly was nothing at all.
I could understand his frame of mind too. Nn school we’ve been learning about a couple life-threatening lung conditions that tall, skinny guys can develop and now I call my prof probably 4-5 times per week telling her I think I’m dying. Better safe than sorry right?
One response to this news that I can understand is the position that he should consider retirement. He’s mentioned in the past he’d retire if blood clot issues came back, and honestly, it’s a fair thought, especially considering that he’s a husband and father, and the risk of embolic events is really, really serious and legitimately life-threatening.
Not only that, but if he retired, that would clear up 3.75 million in cap space, allowing the Penguins a little more room to make moves over the course of the year to solidify their line-up. So wait a second? That’s a win-win right? Minimized health risk for him and his family, and more maneuvering space for Grandpa Jim!
Well even if it is potentially a win-win, I still hope that Duper is all good and continues to play for the Penguins as long as he can, for a few different reasons:
1) He clearly has an important off-ice influence on the Penguins: Watch some of the Youtube videos I’ve sprinkled throughout the article. Look at the way his teammates were talking about him after the Oilers game last night (link). In a completely unknowledgeable and totally biased view, it seems from this angle that Duper has a special way of acting as a strong leader of this group, and keeping things light in the locker room. Which again, in my completely unprofessional opinion, is really important with the pressure that players in the Penguins locker room can put on themselves. Are we comfortable saying the team doesn’t need that anymore?
2) He clearly has an important on-ice influence on the Penguins: Penalty kill has been much better since Duper got back out there. Crosby has looked much better since Duper got back out there. Almost every game you watch you can see Duper’s speed, energy and hard working attitude making a legitimate difference on the game. Is that also really something that we feel comfortable saying we don’t need anymore?
3) What do we really need the extra cap space for? I mean seriously, what exactly are you looking to change on this team? The last few games all 4 forwards lines are starting to look really strong and pushing for offence. The defencemen (along with forwards) have began to improve their shot suppression over the last few games. Penalty Kill has been superb. Power Play is starting to pick it up lately. People love to say this team needs an upgrade on the back end, but does it really?
Lovejoy and Dumoulin have exceeded expectations, and our most disappointing defencemen have been Letang, Maata and Cole. With some adjustments and maybe partner changes, does anyone really feel like those three won’t improve over the course of the year? Clendening and Pouliot also provide strong support as 7/8th defencemen. Maybe I’m in the minority, but I believe were watching a roster that’s absolutely strong enough to win the Stanley Cup, with Dupuis on it.
4) He’s my personal hero and I’m not sure I could deal with him not playing anymore: In my Halloween Costumes post, my first costume idea was for fictional superhero, Super Duper. I actually made this costume in 4th year university, and the only reason it didn’t get worn was due to a deathly illness. I’ve written songs about him, dedicated entire video games NHL franchises to making him the greatest player in (video game) history, committed to naming my first child after him, broken up with a girlfriend because she didn’t think he seemed “cool”, and didn’t speak to my mom for 6 weeks after she pronounced his name wrong. I’m just not ready for it to end yet.
5) Put Yourself in his Shoes: Imagine if someone told you that you can’t do your favourite thing in the world anymore cause there’s a chance you die as a result of it, but that it could also just happen anyway, unrelated to that favourite thing. Would you stop? I know for me, there’s no way I would stop listening to Childish Gambino-Adele mashups regardless of the risk I was at. And that’s way less cool than being an NHL player. I think its unfair to put Super Duper in that position; if he can still go, and can do so safely/comfortably, more power to him.
Next: Pittsburgh Penguins Conspiracy Theory #2
As for right now, I think all we can do is send him our thoughts and prayers and hope that he can return to the line-up as soon as possible. All the best Duper, love you buddy.