Stars' Peverley on surgery: 'It was successful and I'm still doing well'

It was March 10th when the Dallas Stars and Columbus Blue Jackets suspended their game during the first period when Stars forward Rich Peverley collapsed on the bench.

While Peverley was shuffled away to hospital, a dark cloud loomed over the NHL.

Peverley's heart stopped and he was rushed into care at a local hospital before undergoing a procedure to correct an irregular heartbeat.

He told NHL.com Friday:

They essentially burn out new electrical pathways for your heart. It was to correct the a-fibrillation and the a-flutter that I had. It was successful and I'm still doing well. I haven't had any heart arrhythmia since then; so far it's been a success.

Peverley is looking to return to the NHL next season, though his health will be the first concern of the Stars going forward. He was cleared to begin exercising by doctors, but has not been cleared to resume NHL play.

He explained, "I'm not exactly sure what's going to happen, but I'm hoping to play and it's got to be under the right circumstances. So we'll wait and see and hopefully I can."

His next step is to begin testing his heart out, "My next step will probably be getting off medication that I'm on to control my heartbeat still."

Peverley continued, "Once I'm off of that we'll see what happens in terms of how my heart reacts to no medication and see what happens when it's stressed."

It's hard to say whether Peverley will be able to return to the NHL, but he's thankful to his support system either way his career goes. 

"I think I'm lucky to be here and you definitely don't take very many things for granted."