Flames’ T.J. Brodie ‘feeling good’ but out indefinitely after on-ice medical incident

Calgary Flames defenceman T.J. Brodie is on the mend after experiencing a medical incident during practice on Thursday, but there’s no set timetable for his return.

“He’s doing well,” Flames general manager Brad Treliving said during a Friday morning news conference at the Saddledome. “He’s feeling good. He’s sore.”

Brodie, 29, collapsed on the ice Thursday and began convulsing before being taken away on a stretcher.

Treliving said the incident happened about 15 minutes into practice, leading their medical team to spring into action.

“When he first passed out, he was out,” Treliving said. “He was, I guess, passed out is the best description I could give.”

“After a few minutes, T.J. was alert, he was responsive on the ice,” Treliving explained. “The EMS team [and] ambulance arrived and transported him to Foothills hospital. He remained there basically for the remainder of the day.

“It was scary … It was emotional for everybody.”

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A tweet from the club just before 6 p.m. Thursday indicated Brodie had been released from hospital.

“He’s doing well. There’s part of it he doesn’t remember,” Treliving said, adding that the team has been hit hard by the experience.

Treliving said a “battery” of tests had been done and all the ones that have been done to date have “come back negative.”

“We’re not going to leave any stone unturned in terms of the tests that we go through.”

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Treliving said Brodie won’t be travelling with the Flames to Arizona as they take on the Coyotes on Saturday, or to Las Vegas on Sunday for their tilt against the Golden Knights.

“An event like this can be caused by something inside the brain, something scary, and it can also be caused by what we call syncopal or fainting episodes,” said Dr. Ian Auld with the Flames medical team.

“The reasons for why people faint are many – dehydration certainly could be one of them. I don’t think we have all the answers yet and we do have a few more tests to go, but all the early indications are that it’s very likely more related to a fainting episode than it is to something significant and inside the brain.

“Basically, the purpose of fainting is to eliminate gravity and allow your heart to get blood to your brain. If there’s a period of time where that doesn’t happen, the brain can go on hyperdrive, and with that can come some of the motor movements [convulsions] that we saw.”

Auld will be regular communication with Brodie as he recovers.

“He’s going to see a neurology team. We’ve got some specialists lined up that will do some testing to look at the sort of brain side of things. He also will see a general internal medicine person, we’ll work up the cardiology side of things – so those are the types of testing.”