Pascal Dupuis out six months, career in jeopardy after blood clot in lung

In a press conference on Wednesday, the Pittsburgh Penguins announced that winger Pascal Dupuis will be sidelined for at least six months with a blood clot in his lung. Dupuis, 35, is unsure whether he will be able to continue his career.

In a press conference Wednesday afternoon, the Pittsburgh Penguins announced winger Pascal Dupuis will miss at least six months with a blood clot in his lung.

The 35-year-old native of Laval, Que., was diagnosed with the clot on Monday after Dupuis said he was feeling discomfort in his chest. Team doctors said they were lucky that Dupuis came to them and that they could catch the clot before any serious damage was done.

After tearing ligaments in his knee in January, Dupuis was also diagnosed with a blood clot. He was prescribed blood thinners at the time and was able to return to the ice in October to start the season.

For the next six months, Dupuis will not be able to participate with the Penguins and will be on blood thinners once again.

“Our focus at this point is on Pascal’s health and well-being,” Penguins General Manager Jim Rutherford said in a statement. “He will have all the support he needs from the Penguins organization and our medical staff.”

Dupuis has had a long list of ailments throughout his career, already missing 62 games as a member of the Penguins. Following the announcement, Dupuis said he’s unsure if he’ll ever play again. With a wife and four children at home, it’s certainly more important Dupuis get healthy than worry about continuing his career at this time.

In sixteen games this year, Dupuis has six goals and 11 points. Over the course of his 853 game career, Dupuis has registered 188 goals and 405 points.

This is the next in a laundry list of strange injuries for the Penguins, who have seen defenseman Kris Letang suffer a stroke, former backup goaltender Tomas Vokoun go to injured reserve with blood clots in his hip, and 20-year-old defenseman Olli Maatta sidelined with a cancerous tumor and the subsequent surgery to remove it.