Heart Stopping Sports Action

I think most of you know me well enough by now to know that if I had a dead horse, I'd beat it. I realize that this is a mental aberration with which I must live. And, so, I honestly make a conscious effort not to continually harp on those few things that peeve me. So, anyway, I'm watching the news last night and Chip Tarkenton, the WRIC sports guy is teasing his upcoming sports report. "You'll never guess what happened during the Red Wings/Predators hockey match tonight," he says.
So, trying not to let that "you'll never guess" tease irritate me, I figure that it's probably some cute little story about a bird that gets loose in the arena, or a drunk that wanders on the ice, or something else equally as entertaining. Turns out the little guessing game about which Tarkenton is so excited has to do with one of the Detroit players, Jirl Fischer, having a seizure during the game. The guy is sitting on the bench and his heart stops...I mean his literal heart literally stopped. And, Chip is treating it like a cute little anecdote.
Now the real reason I mention this story is not to slam Tarkenton. It's to comment on the way the NHL and the Detroit and Nashville teams handled this. Hockey has not been a favorite sport of mine. In fact, last season was my favorite NHL season. I'm just not crazy about toothless, French-speaking guys.
But, based on last night's events, I think I'll make the NHL my favorite professional sports league for a couple of days. After Fischer was hooked up to an auto defibrillator, and his heart was restarted, he was carried out of the arena on a stretcher. The P.A. guy told the crowd that he was okay, but that the game was being postponed. Hooray for hockey.
In NASCAR, they'll hose the remains of a fellow driver off the track, as the other drivers do laps under the caution flag. As soon as the mess is gone, the green flag comes back out.
I've seen football games, pro and college, where a guy will appear to be totally paralyzed. They'll hook him up to oxygen, cart him off and the game goes on. I've often thought that to be a rather callous attitude. After all, it is just a game. If I had a teammate hauled to the hospital in what appeared to be critical condition, I don't think I'd have much interest in continuing to play for the time being. And, if I was the opposing player who had just, perhaps, permanently crippled another player, I think my mind would be on more serious things, plus I'd be reluctant to take a chance on destroying another players life in the same game. But then, I'm a sentimental old fool.
So, I really want to commend the Detroit Red Wings and the Nashville Predators. Hockey can be an ugly sport. It's kind of like wrestling on ice, except the blood is real. It's nice to know that to some athletes there are some things more important than the game.
I did read that Jirl Fischer had been diagnosed with heart abnormalities back in 2002. He had said at the time that his heart is just a little thicker than most. But, the guy keeps playing. Seems the same might be said about his head as well.