Pascal Dupuis has blood clot in lung, out at least 6 months

The Pittsburgh Penguins had some more unfortunate news at an afternoon press conference- veteran winger Pascal Dupuis has been diagnosed with a blood clot in his lung and will require blood thinners to deal with the issue for the next six months. He will not be able to play hockey while undergoing this treatment.

Dupuis was last seen on Sunday afternoon with his wife and 4 kids, joining teammate Kris Letang for his Heart Walk. The next news wasn't until Monday when the team traveled to Montreal, but announced that Dupuis had stayed behind to see a doctor.

At that doctor visit the blood clot was found after tests were run, since Dupuis had complained of chest pain.

It's the second such afternoon news conference of the season with team doctor Dharmesh Vyas and general manager Jim Rutherford. That time, it was announced that a tumor had been discovered on defenseman Olli Maatta (later confirmed to be cancerous) and that Maatta would have to undergo a procedure. He did and returned to the lineup quicker than expected, participating in the game last night.

It's also similar to what Penguins goalie Tomas Vokoun went through last year- when he missed the entire season after dealing with blood clots and blood thinner medicine.

All the best to Dupuis, who's said to be medically stable. Dupuis, 35, was coming back this year after February ACL/MCL surgery and had 11 points (6 goals, 5 assists) in 16 games. He also had a scare earlier this year when a puck hit him in the back of the neck, but ended up missing no time.