Open Heart

The Caps physical ended the season in a doctor's office

Henrik Lundqvist signed a one-year, $1.5 million deal with the Washington Capitals in October 2020 after the Rangers bought him out. He never played a game in Washington. RMNB's recap of the Open Heart trailer is blunt about why. Bloodwork and a routine physical. A doctor hears something off. In the clip Lundqvist says, "I had to go in for tests and they found a leak in my heart." He had known about a small condition for a long time and felt fine on the ice. That fall, walking up the stairs at home wiped him out. latestnetflix.com's read is that on the ice he was used to getting tired, so he ignored it.

The same trailer plays the doctor's call. The aorta size is the worry in someone still playing. Padding does not cancel the risk of a hit. Dissection means tearing of the vessel, and a risk of death. Valve narrowing under extreme exercise raises the chance of abnormal rhythms and sudden death. Lundqvist asks, "If I was your brother, would you tell me not to play?" The answer leaves no room. He says, "It's hard, man. I've been so inspired and motivated. This is crushing."

Jonathan Hock directed. The film premiered in the Tribeca Festival's Spotlight Documentary section on 15 June 2023. Dan Hunt's program note calls it an intimate profile of the Rangers goalie and his struggle to return after heart surgery. Lundqvist played fifteen seasons in New York. He is the only NHL goaltender with eleven 30-win seasons in his first twelve. Philip Aromando and Erin Leyden produced. Larry Robbins is executive producer. Cinetic Media handled sales.

Cleveland in January. Inflammation by summer.

Cleveland Clinic's patient story names the condition as aortic regurgitation, known since his 2005 rookie year. Caps doctors in December 2020 said it had become life-threatening. Eric Roselli, chief of adult cardiac surgery at Cleveland Clinic, did a six-hour operation in January 2021. A few days later Lundqvist was walking hospital halls. The Clinic quotes him from the film. "You could feel the progress. It was small steps at first, but every milestone was a boost for my confidence." Runtime there is 74 minutes. IMDb lists 1 hour 15 minutes. Henrik, twin brother Joel Lundqvist, and wife Eva Johansson are billed.,

RMNB says he was back on the ice in a Capitals practice jersey 44 days after the operation, reportedly three days from the active roster, then doctors found inflammation around the heart. Pericarditis ended the return. He announced retirement in the summer of 2021. A 2021 Kevin Weekes interview on NHL Network, also on RMNB, has Lundqvist saying the leak worsened over months, the aorta got too big, and two weeks after the specialist call he was on a bed in Cleveland.,

Tribeca, then Netflix in May.

Sammi Silber at The Hockey News covered the 2023 premiere. Carl Hagelin attended. Both had been Rangers. Both were supposed to be Capitals. Hagelin is in the trailer. Lundqvist's line is 459-310-96,.918 save percentage, 2.43 GAA. Number 30 is retired at Madison Square Garden. By premiere week he was an NHL on TNT studio analyst.

Hock, quoted via RMNB from USA Today, said the third rail for any superstar is the end. Athletes do not want to talk about it before or after. "What Henrik has given us with this film, the intimate look into the process of a superstar at the end of his career, and the transition point from athlete to human civilian, is really, really rare." Netflix added the documentary on 17 May 2024. The service's page sells it as the Rangers years plus the comeback attempt after major heart surgery.,