NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Nashville captain Roman Josi knew something was wrong last season as he played through headaches, occasionally got dizzy standing up and felt exhausted at times for no reason.
Being driven into the end boards during a game Feb. 25 gave the defenseman time to find an answer.
“I just knew something was kind of off," Josi said Thursday at the start of training camp. "And I think last year just kind of got to the point where it’s getting worse, getting worse and worse and then obviously that hit happened against Florida, and I think that was kind of the point I was like: I need to figure out what’s going on.”
Doctors diagnosed the 6-foot-1, 201-pound defenseman from Bern, Switzerland, with postural tachycardia syndrome, known as POTS. The Predators announced the diagnosis in June, saying their captain was expected to be ready for training camp.
And yes, Josi was in the first group of Predators on the ice Thursday morning. After a long rehab, Josi said he doesn't see his health being an issue now that he has tools to manage his issues.
“I’m more so relieved and really excited just having a plan," Josi said. “I feel great. I feel 100%, I feel good on the ice and so I'm not concerned at all.”
General manager Barry Trotz said Josi just wasn't right last season. The 2020 Norris Trophy winner and three-time All-Star agreed, though he refuses to blame how he felt for his play. Josi scored nine goals and 38 points over 53 games. That's his fewest in a NHL season playing at least 50 games.
“I felt really good for a lot of the season last year, too," Josi said. "There was obviously a lot of other things. I think my game wasn’t where it was supposed to be, and I’m not going to blame that on any of that.”
Josi worked through all spring and summer with experts to learn how to manage his health after his diagnosis. POTS doesn’t have a cure but can be treated, with symptoms including a fast heart rate, dizziness and fatigue.
He has a new morning routine to help him manage his health. Josi also has adjusted what he eats.
“He’s one of the top defenseman of the National Hockey League,” Trotz said. “Having him back and refreshed and confident in his understanding of his whole situation ... he’s in a great place right now.”
Forward Filip Forsberg said he's thrilled to have Josi back at full strength. Fully defining just how much Josi means to the Predators isn't easy.
“He’s obviously the captain,” Forsberg said. "He’s our best player. He drives the play comes from the back end. He’s a voice in the locker room. And you can tell how much we missed him last year.”
Josi, who turned 35 at the start of June, was among the first six players selected to Switzerland’s Olympic team for the 2026 Milan-Cortina Games. He is on an eight-year, $72 million contract through the 2027-28 season. He has played 962 games with 190 goals and 534 assists.
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FILE - Nashville Predators defenseman Roman Josi (59) plays during the first period of an NHL hockey game against the Vegas Golden Knights, Jan. 14, 2025, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV, file)
DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Huge crowds flocked to the area outside Bangladesh’s national parliament building in the capital Wednesday to attend the funeral prayers for former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia , who died a day earlier at the age of 80 after a prolonged illness.
Waves of people from Dhaka and elsewhere had been streaming in toward the venue on Manik Mia Avenue, outside the parliament building, since early morning. Witnesses said many cried, calling Zia their “mother” as they arrived at the venue, with some traveling overnight from rural areas to join the prayers. In neighborhoods kilometers (miles) away, crowds also spilled into major streets to pray.
Zia’s funerals were expected to draw hundreds of thousands of her supporters and people from across the country while dignitaries from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Nepal also arrived in Dhaka, with local media saying foreign envoys and representatives from 32 countries joined the funeral ceremony. She will be buried beside the grave of her husband, a former president who was assassinated in a military coup in 1981, in a park outside the parliament building later Wednesday.
Zia came to politics after her husband’s death and rose to prominence as an opposition leader during a nine-year movement against a former military dictator who was ousted in a mass uprising in 1990. Zia became prime minister for the first time in 1991, with a landslide victory in a democratically held national election as the country introduced parliamentary democracy. She was the leader of her Bangladesh Nationalist Party till her death.
Zia, who was known for having a calm demeanor, maintained a strong political rivalry with her archrival and former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Hasina, who heads the Bangladesh Awami League party, ruled the country for 15 years before she was ousted in 2024 in a mass uprising.
Zia's coffin, draped in Bangladesh’s national flag, was carried in a van escorted by security officials and party supporters from the hospital to her residence and then to the funeral venue.
Authorities said about 10,000 security officials including soldiers would be deployed around the venue to maintain order on Wednesday.
Bangladesh’s interim government headed by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus announced a three-day mourning and declared Wednesday a public holiday to facilitate the funerals. Flags were kept at half-staff Wednesday across the country to show respect to Zia, the country’s first female prime minister who served two full terms and another brief term.
Zia’s eldest son, Tarique Rahman, is the acting head of her Bangladesh Nationalist Party, which is the front-runner in the nation’s next elections in February.
Hasina, who has been in exile in India since Aug. 5, 2024, was sentenced to death in November on charges of crimes against humanity involving last year’s uprising.
FILE - Bangladesh's main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party chief and former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia looks upwards as she attends a rally of her supporters outside their party headquarters in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Monday, March 12, 2012. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi, File)
FILE - Khaleda Zia takes an oath of office as the prime minister in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Oct. 10, 2001. (AP Photo/Pavel Rahman, File)
FILE - Bangladesh's former prime minister and Bangladesh Nationalist Party leader Khaleda Zia, center, leaves court after a hearing in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Aug. 10, 2016. (AP Photo, File)
