Henrik Lundqvist opens up about heart surgery: ‘Is this really happening?’

Henrik Lundqvist admits he dealt with plenty of uncertainty and went through “some pretty heavy stuff” when he learned he needed to undergo open-heart surgery in January.

Nearly three months later, the former Rangers All-Star goaltender said in his first public interview since the season-ending procedure that he left everything in the hands of his medical team. “I remember laying there, outside the operating room, and you start to think, is this really happening? Like, am I going in that room and they’re going to open my chest? And a machine is going to keep me alive?” the 39-year-old Lundqvist told NHL Network in an interview with former Rangers teammate Kevin Weekes. “It was some pretty heavy stuff to take in, but at the same time, you know me, I like control. I like preparation. I like certain things to be a certain way.