For a team on a four-game losing streak — to say nothing of only one win in its past eight games (1-6-1) — the Pittsburgh Penguins were a buoyant bunch as they gathered for a morning skate Thursday in Cranberry.
That’s because Ben Kindel was there.
The 19-year-old forward was present at UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex for treatment and testing after he fainted Tuesday afternoon during the team’s flight home from Utah.
After a 5-4 loss to the Utah Mammoth on Monday, the Penguins began their trek home, but approximately 10 minutes into their departure from Salt Lake City International Airport, Kindel was stricken by an episode of vasovagal, according to Penguins president of hockey operations Kyle Dubas, who on Thursday morning provided details about what happened.
According to the Mayo Clinic, vasovagal causes the “heart rate and blood pressure to drop suddenly” when the “body overreacts to certain triggers.”
Dubas was uncertain as to what caused Kindel’s episode and indicated he had no prior history of vasovagal.
“He was given oxygen on the flight, regained consciousness and the determination was that the flight needed to land back in Salt Lake City in an emergency medical landing, at which time the plane was met by paramedics,” Dubas said. “And Ben was transported to the University of Utah (Hospital) for further treatment. Ben was cleared yesterday to travel back to Pittsburgh, which he did.”
As the bulk of the Penguins’ traveling party eventually returned to Pittsburgh on Tuesday afternoon, Kindel remained in Utah along with assistant coach Nick Bonino, director of performance Rich Rotenberg, assistant general manager Jason Spezza and team physician Dr. Dharmesh Vyas.
That quintet returned to Pittsburgh on Wednesday.
“We’re just happy to see him and know that he’s doing well,” Penguins forward Sidney Crosby said. “That’s the most important thing. Having him here today was a bit of a lift for us. We’re happy to see that. It was one of those things you don’t really see that often. Everyone handled it great. We’re happy to be here today getting ready for another game.”
The Penguins were preparing for a home contest against the Florida Panthers and weren’t doing so under the best of circumstances following Kindel’s ordeal, to say nothing of their losing skid.
But given how dire things appeared Tuesday, they weren’t necessarily preoccupied with a lack of desired results on the ice.
“For a second, you put hockey aside,” Penguins forward Blake Lizotte said. “Sometimes, that can be a good thing actually. A little bit of perspective. Thankfully, Ben is doing all right and is doing well. That was first and foremost. All the guys were worrying about that.
“But once that’s been kind of cleared up now, it’s full steam ahead. … For us right now, it’s not thinking about yesterday or the day before that or tomorrow even. It’s thinking about tonight and bringing the best to the table tonight.”
The past month has been rife with stress away from the ice for the Penguins. On Sept. 22, Penguins forward Andrei Kuzmenko’s father, Alexander, was killed by a bear while on a fishing trip in Russia. That prompted Kuzmenko to take a leave of absence to attend to his family.
In many ways, hockey has been secondary for this hockey team.
“I don’t think there’s any blueprint for it,” Crosby said. “Everyone tries to support each other and be there. It’s one of those things where you try to make the best of difficult situations. We’re a family here. When guys come here, regardless of how long you come here, that’s something we want them to feel right away. When you go through tough times like that, that’s why.”
Procedurally, the Penguins placed Kindel on injured reserve Thursday. Dubas was quick to suggest there is no firm timeframe for Kindel to resume on-ice activities but was optimistic he could return relatively quickly.
“Our hope is to get everything done, tested back into training here in the next four days or so and see if he can return to practice on Sunday or Monday,” Dubas said. “But I would put an asterisk on that by saying we’ll see how everything goes before then.”
The Penguins would clearly like to see that. For the time being, they’re just happy to see Kindel.
“It’s family,” Crosby said. “These are people that we spend a lot of time with, that we go through a lot with. You just want to see the best for everyone. A situation like that, it puts things in perspective pretty quickly.”