On a recent episode of Spittin Chiclets, Henrik Lundqvist talked about his Washington Capitals season that almost was. Had it been up to him, his career might have ended much closer to home. I definitely wouldn't have minded seeing this King in the Capitol.
On September 30, 2020 Lundqvist had the last year of his 7-year contract with the NY Rangers bought out, making him a free agent, and 10 days later he signed a 1-year $1.5 million contract with the Caps. Fans would learn that the eventual Hall of Fame goalie would never hit Capital One ice due to a life threatening heart condition.
He talked about Open Heart, the Netflix special that goes in depth on those few months (available to watch now, I checked so you don't have to). He shared his decision to share the story was "more about being in a good place mentally... and having it all go upside down," which is relatable for a lot of us, with or without skates on. Initially, he also thought it was going to be the story of getting back on the ice, before it wasn't.
He went into more detail about what happened in those few short months where we got to dream about a brick wall behind the blue line. He said "I'm not done. I started talking to Washington and it felt like the best match for where I [was] at." He knew he had a leaky valve, but it hadn't stopped him so far.
And then that fall, "I was talking to the doctors in Washington and... the tests are worse than we thought, your aorta's too big, [and you can't play]". Henrik added "if it was in the gray area, I would have told my wife I'm doing this, but when you hear that you know there's no going back." Likely born with the valve discrepancy, he never imagined it would stop him finishing his career the way he intended to when he "physically and mentally felt ready."
He was skating in Washington April 2021, 7 weeks after surgery, intending to come back for the playoffs. Chest pain and follow up tests revealed inflammation around the heart; the recurrent pericarditis convinced him and his family to hang up the skates.
Lundqvist also revealed the reason for wearing his famed "Mickey Mouse" gloves. Unfortunately, not to do with a side passion for close up magic, but everything to do with grip. No one wants a slippy, slidey blocker. He changed the Mickey Mouse gloves at intermission during every game, and eventually graduated to a set with those rubber grippy dots. No wonder pucks were stuck to him like magnets when they came near the net.
On the coattails of the 2018 Cup season, and in the midst of the echoing, empty rinks of the pandemic a 2021 season with Lundqvist behind Ovi, Oshie, Backstrom and sitting with Carlson could have been magic. That said, we're happy to still have him around instead. He's very nice to look at on the analysts panel on TNT, with or without grippy gloves.