May 20: Boeser’s blood clotting issue is in his leg and is expected to sideline him for the rest of the playoffs no matter how far the Canucks advance, Daily Faceoff”s Frank Seravalli reports Monday. He’s been placed on medication to address the clot.
May 19: The Canucks will be without top-six winger Brock Boeser for Monday’s Game 7 against the Oilers, per freelance reporter Irfaan Gaffar. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman adds it’s a non-life-threatening blood clotting issue sidelining Boeser, who could miss more time if Vancouver advances to the Western Conference Final.
The timing of this news couldn’t be any worse for Boeser and Vancouver as they head into the seventh and deciding game of their series against Edmonton on Monday night. The 27-year-old has been one of Vancouver’s top threats this postseason, collecting seven goals and five assists in 12 games. He leads the team in playoff goals and is tied with J.T. Miller for the lead in points with 12 while logging more than 20 minutes a night on their top line. Those numbers come on the heels of his best regular season, one that saw him set career-highs in goals (40) and points (73).
Among the options to take Boeser’s spot will be Ilya Mikheyev if he’s ready to return from an undisclosed injury that has kept him out of the last two games, Sam Lafferty, who has been scratched the last two games after a tough start to the playoffs, or Linus Karlsson, who was among their Black Ace recalls earlier this month and has gotten into a pair of games so far. Head coach Rick Tocchet suggested earlier this week that he might be comfortable using top prospect Jonathan Lekkerimaki as well although that would certainly be a risky move to give a youngster his NHL debut in an elimination game. None of those players will be able to step into the role that Boeser filled so Tocchet will have to juggle his lines to see if he can find the right combination to pick up a win without one of their top forwards.
The words “non-life-threatening blood clotting issue” are worrying here. So far, my reading has led this to mean a possibility of a DVT (Deep Vein Thrombosis) condition. And, while they say DVTs aren’t life-threatening on their own, they can turn into a pulmonary embolism that would be dangerous. I just hope a team physician doesn’t tell him to take low-dose aspirin.
Talk about bad timing. Hope BB can get better quickly without long term issues from this.
No kidding. Right before a game 7 you lose one of your best guys. I thought there were drugs that are blood thinners that could help. So I’m thinking maybe it’s a structure thing that might require surgery to help? I sure hope it isn’t career threatening. I’m not a Dr. or pretending to be one either. Best wishes.
@Unclemike1526 — Two of the more common meds are Warfarin and Coumadin. DVT surgery could be a possibility, depending on BB’s situation (if it even involves DVT). My Mom was at risk for blood clots and took both meds, each in turn (not simultaneously). When taking them, you need more blood pressure monitoring, as it is easy to get into a low blood pressure situation. I’m with you, though, and hope he gets this situation in order sooner, rather than later.
Go ‘Nucks!
Ugh. He’ll be okay, and he’ll almost certainly need to be on blood thinners for a period of months while the clot (presumably a DVT as mentioned) organizes and resolves. The issue is that you can’t play serious contact sports on blood thinners, since the risk of bleeding would be massive. It’d be super hard to stop the bleeding, and if it were in a bad place (think: spleen, skull) then it could kill someone.
Long-term, the question is why he got a blood clot. It could be traumatic – meaning, the result of a hit or similar. It happens, sometimes spontaneously. The worry is that he has some underlying condition that predisposes to clotting, in which case some amount of lifelong blood thinning might be recommended. Fingers crossed that it’s just one of those things, and that he’s ready to go next preseason.
As an aside, Boeser seems like one of those players that just has a lot of “one of those things.” I remember early in his career someone opened a door on the ice and he broke his back running into it. He’s been injury prone, strictly speaking, but few of the injuries feel like they’re part of a pattern. Poor guy, maybe he was born under a bad sign.
@slash1001 — There’s a growing thought that these things can be happening as a result of frequent flying. They encourage you to get up several times on long flights to stretch your legs, which makes a lot of sense. And there’s a small percentage of the population who can be predisposed, due to having ancestors of European descent.