Yesterday, the Pittsburgh Penguins broke the news that winger Pascal Dupuis has been cleared for contact and is expected to be ready to play this coming season. He had been battling two blood clots for the past couple years and on top of that a torn ACL. He has been a huge part of the Penguins success in the past and they need more players like him. Luckily, they will have him back.
When the news broke that Dupuis would be out for the season, I saw a lot of people saying he should retire since this was his 2nd blood clot. The minute I saw the news, I knew he would return because Pascal Dupuis is that kind of hockey player. He would travel with the team everywhere up and down the east coast and would always skate after each Penguins practice because he wanted to feel like he was still part of the team. He would act as a coach in the press box and every time the camera would show is face, you just knew that he was pretty upset inside because he wasn't out there with the teammates. If the Penguins had made a much deeper run into the playoffs or got to the Stanley Cup Final, there would've been a real chance that Dupuis would've played.
Dupuis wrote this article on the Players Tribune (a beautiful article and I highly recommend everyone to read it) about his past couple years and what he's been going through. He had some pretty interesting things that he shared. For example, he actually wanted to go on the trip to Montreal even with the blood clot, which just shows how tough of a player he is. The best part about the article he wrote is the ending. He writes " I'm 35. I know I don't have much time left. But I'm getting out of that press box prison. I don't care if it takes six months or a year or two years. I will get healthy. I will play in the National Hockey League again."
Just an amazing recovery for Pascal Dupuis and he should be an inspiration to so many people around the world that are recovering from this type of injury. He would most likely play on the 3rd line but could get into the top six if some of the wingers do get hurt.