Bouwmeester won't play in regular season, playoffs

ST. LOUIS - Blues defenseman Jay Bouwmeester will not return for the regular season or the Stanley Cup Playoffs this year, according to Blues General Manager Doug Armstrong.
Bouwmeester has been recovering since suffering a cardiac episode in the first period of the Feb. 11 game against the Anaheim Ducks. Since, he underwent surgery to install an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) device that will restore his heart's normal rhythm in case of a similar future incident.

"We both understand that he won't participate this year in the regular season or in the playoffs for us," Armstrong said. "We talked about longer term things that may or may not happen and both feel that it's February, you don't have to make long-term decisions at this point. He's going to take time, getting back with his family and be around the team and he'll address those things as the summer progresses."
"I think that's something I'm going to have to evaluate, but to say I've done that, I wouldn't say fully yet," Bouwmeester said about his future in hockey. "There are decisions I'm going to have to make. That will come later… It's tough but honestly hockey hasn't really been at the front of my mind the last couple of weeks."

Bouwmeester had nine points (one goal, eight assists) in 56 games this season before the incident. After several days in the hospital, he was flown back to St. Louis to be with his family and has made frequent trips to Enterprise Center to visit with teammates.
"The outreach and the support that people have shown has been pretty overwhelming," Bouwmeester said. "There were a lot of things that were the absolute best-case scenario. … Places where this could have happened, the outcome would have been very different. From doctors in the hospital to pretty much everyone I've talked to, that's the consensus. It happened in the absolute best place it could happen. … No. 1, they saved my life and No. 2 the fact that they could get on it so fast was very helpful."
The postponed game between the Blues and Ducks has been rescheduled for Wednesday, March 11 at 9 p.m. CT at Honda Center. To accommodate the game, the March 10 game between the Blues and Florida Panthers at Enterprise Center has moved up to March 9.
"I'm at the point right now where I feel pretty good," Bouwmeester added. "…It's a scary thing but everything's going pretty good lately and we'll continue to evaluate things as they go."