Red Wings’ Fischer Discusses Collapse

Grateful to be alive, Detroit Red Wing defenseman Jiri Fischer said Monday that he hoped to play again as he emotionally made his first public comments since collapsing on the bench because of a cardiac arrest during a Nov. 21 game.

“I’m really, really glad to be here,” he said before the Red Wings’ 3-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins. “Not too many people get a second chance like I did.”

Fischer cried and took deep breaths as he spoke about the night he collapsed and a possible return.

“I don’t foresee myself coming back in the next couple of weeks,” he said. “But this is what I know, what I’ve worked for my whole life. I don’t want it to be taken away.”

Fischer is being treated with medicine, is undergoing regular tests and hasn’t been cleared to play. A week after collapsing, Fischer again experienced an abnormal heartbeat and returned to the hospital for treatment. He was released a few days later.

When Fischer was pressed on his possible return or retirement, he said simply: “I’m 25.”

In the game, Henrik Zetterberg scored twice to give the Red Wings their second consecutive win.

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Ottawa 6, Colorado 2 -- Dany Heatley scored the go-ahead goal in the third period and added two assists, and the Senators scored four times in the final period to win at Denver.

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Struggling goalie Patrick Lalime, who has a 3.97 goals-against average, was waived by the St. Louis Blues. ... The Florida Panthers traded left wing Niklas Hagman to the Dallas Stars in exchange for a seventh-round pick in the 2007 draft.