After 15 seasons in the NHL, all with the New York Rangers, 42-year-old Henrik Lundqvist lives a normal life as a father to two young daughters, while also recently speaking out about why he had to retire from the game.
During an interview on NBC's Today Show, Lundqvist revealed his diagnosis of Recurrent Pericarditis, a rare condition of the heart that causes the sac around the heart to become inflamed or where fluid may build up, resulting in shortness of breath. With the amount of focus and heartbeat a typical NHL goaltender needs, it's no wonder Lundqvist had to hang up his skates and pads not long after he was diagnosed.
Lundqvist had an illustrious 15-year NHL career, and although he never won a Stanley Cup, like so many other legendary players, he was at least a two-time NHL All-Star in 2011/12 and 2012/13, also winning the Vezina Trophy for the league's top goaltender in the former season.
His No. 30 is also the latest number to be retired by the franchise, occurring on January 28, 2022, in a game against the Minnesota Wild, which, oddly enough, had an ex-teammate of Lundqvist in Mats Zuccarello score on Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin. And the pericarditis wasn't Lundqvist's only problem that caused him to retire possibly a bit earlier than usual.
Initially, it was thought to have been an irregular heartbeat, and Lundqvist went in for open heart surgery in Jan. 2021 before the second complication came up a few months later. Since then, he has partnered with Kiniska Pharmaceuticals and has helped spread awareness about a condition that affects roughly 40,000 Americans per year.
Lundqvist also has a foundation in his name, a nonprofit dedicated to providing funds to help children across the state of New York with their educational and health needs. Established in 2014 by Lundqvist and his wife Therese, the foundation also works with local New York hospitals and food banks, other nonprofits like the Garden of Dreams, which has partnered with all of Madison Square Garden's tenants, and the Ronald McDonald charity in its work.
Since retiring in the middle of the 2020-21 NHL season, Lundqvist has been busy as a father of two young daughters and visits his home in Sweden every so often whenever he needs a nice break from the hustle and bustle of NYC. He's also now an analyst for TNT's NHL TV coverage alongside Wayne Gretzky (yes, the Great One himself) and legendary NHL enforcer Paul Bissonnette.
Lundqvist is still partially active from a sporting standpoint, occasionally getting in casual tennis games during his free time, which, in his own words, is his own time that he can do whatever he wants with. The one thing Lundqvist hasn't thought of being is an NHL head coach.
And you can't exactly blame him, as ever since he was 16 years old, hockey ate up the majority of his daily schedule. The King deserves a break after 30+ years on the ice, stopping over 23,500 shots in nearly 900 NHL games played for a .918 save percentage.