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Dupuis: ‘I will play in the National Hockey League again’

Calgary Flames v Pittsburgh Penguins

PITTSBURGH, PA - DECEMBER 21: Pascal Dupuis #9 of the Pittsburgh Penguins celebrates his first period goal against the Calgary Flames during the game at Consol Energy Center on December 21, 2013 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images)

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If you’ve got a few minutes this afternoon, give this rather harrowing piece by Pascal Dupuis at the Players’ Tribune a read.

It’s all about Dupuis’ experience with blood clots, and how he tried to hide the potentially fatal ailment.

An excerpt:

Call me stupid but I didn’t say anything to anyone about it. Not my teammates. Not my trainers. Not my wife. The hockey player in me — he’s saying it’s nothing. He’s thinking, You just battled through eight months of rehab for your knee. Everyone was second-guessing you. You’re 35. This is it.

I finished practice.

I would not recommend this to anyone but the truth is that I played five more NHL games without ⅓ of a lung.

At the end of the piece, Dupuis vows to play again.

“I don’t care if it takes six months or a year or two years,” he writes. “I will get healthy. I will play in the National Hockey League again.”