Colorado’s Forsberg Has Spleen Removed

Colorado Avalanche center Peter Forsberg will be sidelined the rest of the Stanley Cup playoffs after having emergency surgery Thursday morning to remove his spleen and stem internal bleeding.

Forsberg had an assist in the Avalanche’s 5-1 victory over the Kings Wednesday in the seventh game of their second-round series, giving him four goals and 14 points in 11 games. He talked to reporters afterward with no sign anything was amiss, but he complained of stomach pains when he met teammates and club executives at a local restaurant.

“We sent him right to the hospital,” Avalanche General Manager Pierre Lacroix said. “They made the final decision to operate at about 3:15 a.m.”

Doctors found his spleen had been ruptured and performed a two-hour operation at Rose Medical Center in Denver. He will remain there indefinitely but is expected to fully recover by next season.

The spleen, which is located in the upper abdomen, filters foreign objects in the blood. David Mellman, the Avalanche’s team physician, said Forsberg should have no restrictions on his activity once the healing process is complete, which should take several months. “You can function perfectly without a spleen,” Mellman said.

It wasn’t immediately clear when Forsberg suffered the injury but it was believed he was hurt during Wednesday’s game. King Coach Andy Murray said he thought a collision between Forsberg and King center Bryan Smolinski behind the net in the second period might have been the cause. “That’s sad,” Murray said. “He was such a force for them.”

Losing Forsberg will again test the depth of the Avalanche, which played two-plus games without center Joe Sakic after he hurt his right shoulder in Game 3. Colorado opens the Western Conference finals against the St. Louis Blues Saturday at the Pepsi Center in Denver.