DETROIT (AP-CP) - Detroit Red Wings defenceman Jiri Fischer suffered a seizure and had his heart stop on the team's bench during the first period of an NHL game against the Nashville Predators on Monday night.
Fischer was given CPR at the bench by team physician Dr. Tony Colucci before the 25-year-old native of the Czech Republic was removed on a stretcher. He was taken to hospital and listed in stable condition.
''His heart was stopped,'' Red Wings coach Mike Bab**** said. ''They hooked up the auto defibrillator and shocked him.''
It wasn't immediately clear what caused the seizure.
Team spokesman John Hahn said Fischer was taken to Detroit Receiving Hospital and was stable, breathing on his own and responsive.
In a release late Monday, the Red Wings said Fischer was visited by teammates and coaches and that he was ''jovial and in good spirits.''
The team says Fischer will remain in hospital for further testing over the next two days.
''It's our understanding, the reports from the hospital, that he is fine and he will be fine,'' Bab**** said.
Play did not resume and the game was called with 7:31 left in the first period. Nashville was leading 1-0 at the time.
Fischer logged four minutes 52 seconds of playing time - covering six shifts. He recorded one hit and was on the ice when Nashville's Greg Johnson scored the game's only goal. That occurred just 1:02 before the game was halted.
Play was stopped after the Wings alerted officials to a problem on the bench. The teams were immediately sent to their dressing rooms, but some Detroit players remained near the bench and looked on while CPR was administered.
''First of all, everybody is definitely caught by surprise,'' Red Wings captain Steve Yzerman said. ''We turn and see Jiri laying between the boards and the bench and we're not sure why.
''You fear for the guy's life at that moment. I can't remember anything like that.''
Yzerman and Brendan Shanahan stayed on the ice and helped Fischer's fiancee, Avery, across the surface to be with him.
''Obviously, she was very worried and concerned. She just wanted to be next to Jiri,'' said Shanahan.
The decision was made to resurface the ice then, and the remaining time was to be added to the second period.
The game was later called.
''It was obvious to everybody involved that it was the right decision,'' Predators coach Barry Trotz said. ''It was very disturbing to both sides and I think the NHL recognized it, the players recognized it. To be quite honest, the game became very secondary. When a friend or a teammate was in danger like Jiri was in, then the decision was made for everybody to reschedule it.''
It was not immediately clear whether the game would be played in its entirety or resume from the point of the stoppage.
''Our primary objective is that Jiri is taken care of,'' Trotz said.
Fans at Joe Louis Arena were not immediately told what was happening and many were shown talking on cellphones. An in-house PA announcer later told the crowd that Fischer was ''alert and responsive'' more than 40 minutes after play was stopped. A loud cheer went up.
Fischer, who played for the QMJHL's Hull Olympiques, is in his sixth NHL season and won a Stanley Cup with Detroit in 2002.
He 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' pre-season 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. ''It's nothing that will bother me emotionally.''
He said that his heart essentially is a little thicker than normal.
''I wasn't scared about the abnormality,'' Fischer said. ''But I was scared about not playing hockey again. That was a shock for me.''
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[NEWS] Wings' Fischer collapses, game cancelled
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