Penguins defenseman Kris Letang will miss at least six weeks after having a stroke last week, the Penguins announced. According to the team, the condition is treatable with blood thinners and is not believed to be career threatening.
The team states that further testing also revealed that Letang has had a very small hole in the wall of his heart since birth. This small defect in the wall is present in all individuals before birth but seals shut in most people. It is possible that the hole in the heart led to the stroke.
“Kris had one brief episode of dizziness and nausea last week,” Pens GM Ray Shero said in a released statement. “We held him out of the Los Angeles game Thursday night, and when he continued to feel ill, tests conducted in Phoenix on Saturday gave us the first indication of his condition. Further testing then was conducted when he returned to Pittsburgh, and he continued to undergo a battery of tests here this week.”
Letang will be on blood thinners for six weeks and then further evaluated.
Penguins head coach Dan Bylsma called the news “serious and sobering” when he learned while the team was in Phoenix that Letang had suffered a stroke. Bylsma indicated he would have liked to have released the info earlier to stop all the speculation but Letang was still undergoing further tests all week.
— Best wishes to Kris on his recovery —
{Updated 12:00 p.m. }