It’s hard to believe that it’s been just five months since Jay Bouwmeester suffered a “cardiac episode” on the St. Louis Blues’ bench in a game against the Anaheim Ducks. Given everything that has gone on in the hockey world and the world at large since Bouwmeester’s incident it feels like it’s been years.
In any case, it has indeed been five months and thankfully Bouwmeester seems to be on the road to recovery. He’s been resting at his home in Alberta and has already confirmed that he will NOT be playing for the Blues this season. Earlier today though, Blues GM Doug Armstrong confirmed that not only will Bouwmeester not be playing for the Blues during the Stanley Cup Playoffs, but he also won’t be travelling to Edmonton to join his team for moral support.
Check it out:
Berube says that Bouwmeester is back in Canada and will NOT be with the Blues in Edmonton.
Bouwmeester is of course an Edmonton native and there was some hope that he’d join the Blues ‘bubble’ for the duration of the playoffs so that he could hopefully be part of another Blues run to the Stanley Cup. But, thankfully good sense has prevailed here. Would it be great for Jay Bo to cheer on his teammates to another Stanley Cup? Of course. But, given his health and the seriousness of the situation (We're living in a pandemic after all) this is 100% the correct decision to make. Bouwmeester can be supportive in his own way, but there's no need to put his health at risk just so that he can play the role of an overqualified cheerleader. The guy has paid his dues. He's played for nearly two decades, he has his Stanley Cup and he suffered a heart attack on the bench. Let's just let him chill at home for a bit, okay?
Bouwmeester hasn't commented on his NHL future, but it's probably fair to speculate at this point that his playing days are behind him. As I just reiterated, he has nothing left to prove in the NHL as a player. Health and happiness before anyting, Jay Bo. Now is the time to take care of yourself.
