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ICE HOCKEY

Heart surgery for Toronto’s Swedish goalie Gustavsson

Swedish rookie goaltender Jonas Gustavsson has surgery on Tuesday to fix a heart problem, but is expected to back in uniform with the National Hockey League’s Toronto's Maple Leafs within a few days, the team said.

Published: 16 September 2009 07:38 CEST
Heart surgery for Toronto's Swedish goalie Gustavsson
Gustavsson during an April 2009 match with Swedish Färjestad BK

The 24-year-old Gustavsson reported feeling dizzy on Friday after undergoing a strenuous exercise during a physical. He skated with the team on Monday.

Doctors examined Gustavsson and decided to operate Tuesday, a procedure which involves inserting a catheter through the groin to fix an abnormal heartbeat.

The Leafs say Gustavsson, dubbed “The Monster” (Monstret) by the Swedish press, shouldn’t miss more than three days of training before he is allowed back on the ice.

Gustavsson was expected to compete for the Leafs’ goaltending job this season with Finnish veteran Vesa Toskala. He recently signed a one year contract with Toronto.

Leafs’ coach Ron Wilson has called Gustavsson the “best goaltender outside of the NHL”.

“He will play for us this year,” Wilson told reporters last week before the heart condition was known.

Gustavsson played last season in the Swedish Elite League (Färjestads BK) and led his team to the championship.

In 42 games, he posted a league-leading 1.96 goals-against average and recorded four shutouts.

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NHL

It’s official: Sweden’s Lundqvist is the NHL’s best goalie

Sweden's Henrik Lundqvist made 12 straight saves to win the goaltender competition at the NHL all-star game's skill night.

Published: 26 January 2019 10:02 CET
It's official: Sweden's Lundqvist is the NHL's best goalie
Henrik Lundqvist of the New York Rangers celebrates winning the Ticketmaster NHL Save Streak during the 2019 SAP NHL All-Star Skills contest on Friday in San Jose, California. Photo: Thearon W. Hender
The New York Rangers goalie knocked off Russian Olympian Andrei Vasilevskiy of the Tampa Bay Lightning, who held the lead through several rounds after stopping the first eight shots he faced. 
 
The skill contests held on Friday night in San Jose, California also saw Edmonton Oilers speedster Connor McDavid win his third straight fastest skater title in a competition that included a female participant for the first time.
 
Canada's McDavid charged around the rink in just 13.37 seconds to eclipse Buffalo Sabres forward Jack Eichel, who finished in 13.58 seconds at the SAP Center arena.
 
Kendall Coyne, who plays on the American women's national team, was invited to take part and finished seventh out of eight skaters, beating out Arizona Coyotes forward Clayton Keller. Coyne cruised to a time of 14.34 seconds while Keller, who has 11 goals and 35 points with the Coyotes this season, finished in 14.52. 
 
“I thought she was unbelievable,” McDavid said. “She was absolutely flying out there.” 
 
Last year, Coyne's teammate Hilary Knight did the accuracy shooting drill, but her impressive time wasn't included in the official results.
 
Johnny Gaudreau defended his title in the puck control contest with a time of 27.045, and John Carlson, who captured a Stanley Cup with the Washington Capitals last season, won the hardest shot contest with a blast of 102.8 mph.
 
The NHL all-star game will take place on Sunday.