Dallas forward Rich Peverley met with the media on Friday for the first time since undergoing successful heart surgery, telling reporters his goal is to make a return to the NHL.
“I feel great,” Peverley said, per the Stars’ Twitter feed. “Under instructions from doctors, I’ve been able to work out again.”“I went on the ice yesterday. My goal would be to come back."-Peverley on possibility of coming back. He says he will take time to decide.
— Dallas Stars (@DallasStars) March 28, 2014
Peverley, 31, collapsed due to a cardiac incident midway through the first period of a game on Mar. 10 against Columbus, which the Blue Jackets led 1-0 at the time. This came after Peverley missed the preseason and Dallas’ season opener because of a procedure to correct an irregular heartbeat — two weeks prior to the collapse, he’d also been briefly held out of action as a precautionary measure because he “” following a game.
Two days following the incident versus Columbus, the Stars announced that Peverley would not return to play this season and, on Mar. 19, he underwent the aforementioned corrective procedure.
According to Dr. Robert Dimeff, the Stars’ director of medical services, Peverley’s heart will continued to monitored as his workouts go on.