Red Wings prospect Tvrdon lost for season

Detroit Red Wings prospect Marek Tvrdon, who leads the Vancouver Giants of the Western Hockey League in scoring, will miss the remainder of the season due to a medical issue.

"Marek had a small blockage isolated to a single vein in his left shoulder," Giants general manager Scott Bonner said Thursday in a statement on the team's website. "It was completely and rapidly dissolved and he is doing very well.

"Marek is under the excellent care of numerous specialists and he is recovering quickly. He will not be returning this season but he is expected to have a full recovery and future career as a hockey player."

Tyrdon said he likely will have surgery once the cause of the blockage is determined.

"I was really scared when the doctor [said] I can maybe never play hockey anymore," Tvrdon told the Vancouver Sun. "The Detroit Red Wings were scared. My agent was scared. Now I feel better because they tell me I can still play hockey. So that's a good thing."

According to the Sun, Tvrdon took the pregame warm-up Sunday against the Prince George Cougars but was seen at the bench talking to a trainer and pointing to his arm. He was scratched from the lineup, and after the game coach Don Hay told reporters Tvrdon had an infection in his arm.

"It's a tough day," Hay told the Sun. "Marek's health is the most important thing and I've been told he won't be able to play again this season."

Tvrdon, a 2011 fourth-round pick of the Red Wings, had eight goals and 14 assists in 22 games. A native of Nitra, Slovakia, the 6-foot-2, 210-pound wing is in his third season with the Giants. He had 31 goals and 74 points in 60 games last season.

The 19-year-old signed an entry-level contract with the Red Wings in July.

"He's a big, strong, power forward-type of player with a real heavy body and good offensive skills," Red Wings assistant general manager Jim Nill told the team's website the day of the signing. "He's got to work on his quickness, but that's coming. The real big thing is that he's got a real big, heavy body."