DALLAS -- Rich Peverley will not play again this season after collapsing on the bench during a game. Whether the Dallas Stars forward will ever play again wont be known until after more extensive work is done to evaluate his irregular heartbeat. Peverley appeared briefly at a news conference Wednesday, reading nervously from a statement that thanked "the number of people that saved my life" after he went down in the first period of a game against Columbus, stunning players, coaches and fans. The 31-year-old left the questions to doctors who said his season was over and he would undergo a procedure that he decided to put off when his condition was first discovered during a physical before training camp in September. Dr. Robert Dimeff said Peverley was given the option of treating atrial fibrillation, the most common type of heart arrhythmia, with a minor adjustment and medication or missing several months to undergo a more invasive approach. "He said, Im new to the team, its a new coach, a new general manager, I only have a two-year contract, theyve got to know that I can play," Dimeff said of Peverley, who came to the Stars in an off-season trade from the Boston Bruins. "And so we went back and forth. That was a joint decision, an informed decision on his part." Dimeff said Peverleys heart likely raced out of control and then stopped during the game against Columbus on Monday night, but probably for no more than about 10 seconds before medical personnel got it going again in the tunnel behind the Dallas bench at American Airlines Center. The game was postponed. The procedure Peverley skipped in September, called an ablation, will likely be performed within days. When he walked out of the news conference at St. Paul University Hospital, Peverley could be seen wearing a device that a doctor later described as something that monitors his heart rate constantly and can be used to implement corrective measures if the heartbeat gets out of rhythm. Peverley remains hospitalized, but all heart tests have been normal, Dimeff said. "The last couple of days have been a lot of anxiety, a lot of unknown," Stars general manager Jim Nill said. "It turns out that its a great day to walk in here, to see Rich Peverley walking in here." Dimeff said the question of whether its safe for Peverley to play hockey again wasnt one they wanted to address yet. Peverley was sidelined through the first game of the regular season after the condition was diagnosed, then played in 60 straight games before complaining of discomfort that caused him to miss a game at Columbus last week. Dimeff said doctors adjusted his medication after last weeks episode, and he played in two more games before his collapse. "This is extremely rare in our sports medicine world," Dimeff said. "We dont think about atrial fibrillation as one of these conditions that leads to more serious rhythms." The Stars have been monitoring Peverleys heart rate in practice, and he had what Dimeff called a "red light-green light" device that the player could use to tell whether his heartbeat was out of rhythm. But the rapid response when he was stricken against the Blue Jackets wasnt because his doctors have always been on high alert during games. The NHL implemented emergency medical procedures after Detroits Jiri Fischer had a similar incident that ended his career in 2005. Fischer, who was 25 when he played his final game and is now the director of player development for the Red Wings, said he exchanged text messages with Peverley on Tuesday night. "Just because on video my cardiac arrest looks like kind of similar to his, that doesnt mean were the same or that well follow the same path," Fischer told The Associated Press. "Hell have to make some decisions -- educated ones based on the advice hell get -- his family." The Stars flew to St. Louis not long after the Columbus game was postponed and beat St. Louis 3-2 in overtime the next night. The bench erupted when Jamie Benns winning goal went in, with the errant stick of one player striking exuberant coach Lindy Ruff in the face. Alex Chiasson didnt make the trip because he was in the same hospital as Peverley after being traumatized by the incident. But Ruff said the 23-year-old forward was back to skating Wednesday and should play Friday night against Calgary in the first home game since Peverleys collapse. "This doesnt go away in one game," Ruff said. "Those emotions that the players will carry forward are going to last for a good period of time." Cheap Houston Texans Gear . 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Cheap Houston Texans Jerseys Online . Make that, almost always subjective. Saturday at Carrow Road, the spirit of fair play trumped the rulebook, costing Norwich City three points.Due diligence. It was said at least three times but as the music blared out louder there may have been a fourth one sneaked in. At a media get-together this week, I asked Toronto FC general manager Tim Bezbatchenko about how important it was for the team to scout and recruit better. The 32-year-old nodded his head often throughout my question. He had watched, as an outsider from the league offices, Toronto FC repeatedly throw darts at the transfer market - both domestically and overseas - in the hope they would be able to somehow hit the bullseye. Not surprisingly, watching players on DVDs and getting tips from agents you know well didnt work out. The darts thrown not only missed the board but came back to hit them directly in the face. Designated players turned out to be old, injury-prone and unreliable while most of Torontos non-DP recruits have all been paid far more than the value they gave on the field. "Youd be amazed how many players are recruited without being watched in person but we want to go and see the players, watch them play, talk to them and we have been to many places doing our due diligence," said Bezbatchenko. There it was again. Due diligence. It is one thing to shop carefully when you have little in your pocket but when the pockets are deep, more doors open, increasing the risk of wasting money. It appears a door remained opened the longest in Brazil and it is there where Bezbatchenko and his team decided to invest. The signing of 24-year-old Gilberto Oliveira Souza Junior represents a new era for the club. No one quite knows just how successful the Brazilian forward will be but what is already clear is that he is the face of a new Toronto FC, on and off the field. Gilberto is Bezbatchenkos guy. The GM may have been handed a difficult hand when taking the job but the two aces in the pack were his future designated players and the money he could use from Maple Leafs Sports & Entertainment to attract them here. Aces have been held in the hands of past GMs at this club but far too often, they showed too many people their cards. In an off-season where Toronto FC have attracted a lot of press and attention over the identity of their new DPs, Bezbatchenko and his team deserve tremendous credit at keeping the Gilberto target a secret for as long as they did in Canada. Since the departure of Kevin Payne, Bezbatchenko, MLSE President and CEO Tim Leiweke and head coach Ryan Nelsen have told anyone willing to listen that two designated players will be arriving to play up front for this club next season. Names such as Jermain Defoe, Alberto Gilardino and Samuel Etoo have all been linked with the club, and Defoe appears to have signed ahead of a move in January, but the choice of Gilberto as the second DP over another aging European name takes the club down a different path. It is a path many other MLS clubs have shopped on. The likes of Diego Valeri, Gabriel Torres and Hernan Bernadello are all on a designated player wage in the league but are in their 20s (not a 23 or under DP) and have been signed to play full seasons, and make a significant impact, on the pitch, rather than spending half a season injured lighting up billboards selling tickets. Scouting the likes of a Thierry Henry, Robbie Keane, or a Defoe for that matter, is simple. It doesnt happen. You know how good they are and the work put in to get them is around recruiting and selling your franchisee to them.dddddddddddd They are outstanding players who make a difference in MLS but the younger, less expensive but potentially just as explosive DPs are a true test of a clubs ability to scout and recruit real talent. And that has taken the clubs recruitment team to Gilberto. The striker arrives in Canada, coming off a season in Brazil where he netted 14 goals for Portuguesa to help them avoid relegation in the final day. He is relatively unknown in North America but two men who know him very well are writers Tim Vickery and Rupert Fryer. "He quite often plays up top on his own, has a nose for goal, is also quick enough to be played behind the defensive line. Doesnt combine a great deal, not really a back to (the) goal player who will bring others into the game," Vickery, BBCs man in Rio, told TSN.ca. "Hes quick, strikes the ball well from distance and has been excellent in front of goal this year, but will arrive in MLS following the first standout season of his career, he could be an excellent signing and clearly has what it takes to score a lot of goals for Toronto, but he is no world beater," Fryer, freelance South Amercian football writer, told TSN.ca. Coming off just one big season in Brazil could lead to some skeptics but Vickery thinks he may have turned the corner: "Confidence is fundamental (with strikers) and now he has had a bigger role - with Portuguesa, where the team performed well above expectations. They played with attacking full backs to stretch the opposing defence to get that ball in behind them early for him to attack and I think he liked that." When asked how he would operate in a front two with someone like Defoe, Fryer said: "He played as a number nine for Portuguesa but Id expect hed be the one charged with dropping behind Defoe if the two teamed up for TFC. The Brazilians pace and willingness to commit defenders one-on-one would make him a better choice for the second striker role." "He has tended to be happier as a lone man up top in a 4-2-3-1. The worry you have with Defoe is both are goal poachers and neither are great combination players," added Vickery. "Not sure if they would be a natural combination off the top and there is not a lot of height in there." How the two new signings connect will be crucial to the teams success and overall structure as a system on the field. It appears both men are finishers rather than creators but those wondering who will supply the strikers should be aware that the requirements of any striker in a good league includes link-up play. The pair will not be standing together on the penalty spot, waiting for the ball, like they are waiting for a bus. In recent years, Defoe has evolved and is actually much more than just a front man who does his damage in the six yard box, or on the shoulders of the last defender. The Englishman enjoys coming deep to link up with teammates and actually showed he was better than an out-of-form Roberto Soldado at that in each of his last two starts for Tottenham in the Premier League, coming deep and drifting to both flanks to be apart of the attack. Should Defoe sign in January, as expected, the attacking duo that Bezbatchenko will have put together may have some work to do as a partnership but at least this time the club will have its aces ready to go when the cards are finally dealt come opening weekend next March. 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