Detroit – Red Wings defenseman Jiri Fischer had a seizure on the Detroit bench late in the first period of Monday night’s game against the Nashville Predators and was listed in stable condition at a hospital.
Fischer was given CPR at the bench by team physician Tony Colucci before the native of the Czech Republic was removed on a stretcher. The game was called off with no makeup date immediately announced.
“His heart was stopped,” Red Wings coach Mike Babcock said. “They hooked up the auto defibrillator and shocked him.”
Team spokesman John Hahn said Fischer was taken to Detroit Receiving Hospital and was stable, breathing on his own and responsive. “It’s our understanding, the reports from the hospital, that he is fine and he will be fine,” Babcock said.
Play was stopped with 7:30 left in the period after the Red Wings alerted officials to a problem. Medical personnel worked on Fischer, 25, at the door to the bench for several minutes before he was wheeled back toward the team dressing room.
Fischer was diagnosed with a heart abnormality in September 2002, causing him to miss two days of practice. The problem was found on an electrocardiogram as part of a routine battery of tests during the Red Wings’ preseason physicals. When the result was abnormal, Fischer was given a stress test that he passed.
“There is a little abnormality, but nothing that will stop me from playing,” Fischer said at the time.
