Ice Hockey Austria: Salzburg striker misses the whole season after a stroke

Ice hockey striker Daniel Welser of Red Bull Salzburg will be able to play his first game of the season on 19.I will not play any more games this season after having suffered a stroke in September.

The 34-year-old had left the intensive care unit a week ago, but is still in hospital for therapy and will certainly not be able to return to the ice in the rest of the season until April, according to his club.

In one week Welser will begin with a four-week in-patient rehabilitation at the Christian Doppler Clinic in Salzburg,”Daniel Welser is on the right track to recovering and that is now also the most important thing for him and his family.You will see what happens after the rehabilitation.However, a return to the ice in this season is impossible,”according to a statement by the Salzburg team.

Welser himself stated that he was “doing quite well so far”:”You don’t really see that I had a stroke and was paralysed on one side for an hour,”said the Carinthian two weeks after the stroke and the operation immediately afterwards.

He had received a great deal of sympathy from his personal and ice hockey environment.Former coaches such as Don Jackson, Tommy Samuelsson or Pierre Page as well as almost all of Ice Hockey Austria have also written to me, which is of course constructive,”says the long-standing Salzburg player.Of course, the support of his family is also very important.

After a short stay at home, he will begin his one-month rehabilitation stay,”but first everything will be examined again and the program and the medication will be adapted to it,”explained Welser.”I’m training in physiotherapy on my bike, but I’m not thinking about hockey right now.”

He is also talking to a psychologist about future scenarios:”At the moment, things are going quite well.But I haven’t been in the cabin or the ice rink yet, I’ll see what’s hitting me first.But many players have already visited me and I’ll watch the games, at least if possible, over the Internet.”