McAvoy returned to Bruins practice Tuesday at the Honda Center in a red, noncontact jersey.
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ANAHEIM, Calif. — It’s been a tough — and often heartbreaking — month-plus for Charlie McAvoy.
Shortly after the Bruins defenseman experienced “the most fun I’ve ever had in hockey,” representing Team USA at the 4 Nations Face-Off, he suffered a shoulder injury and subsequent infection that have kept him off the ice since Feb. 15.
While rehabbing the shoulder, McAvoy then watched some of his closest friends traded away in a deadline day frenzy.
McAvoy returned to Bruins practice Tuesday at the Honda Center in a red noncontact jersey. He will not play on this trip and interim coach Joe Sacco said there is still no timetable for McAvoy’s return to game action.
“Yeah, it wasn’t good. It was bad. It was when I got home that things sort of hit the fan on Monday, and that landed me in the hospital and things moved pretty fast after that,” McAvoy said following Tuesday’s skate. “And the infection was moving pretty fast after that, and it got very serious, very quick. And [it’s] another thing that I’m just trying to leave in the past, really. It was scary. It was scary for me. It was scary on my family mostly, and
I could not be more grateful for all the people at MGH . . . Those people, they’re the heroes of this story.”
Following his admission to the hospital, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported the Bruins were “extremely unhappy” with McAvoy’s initial treatment in Montreal.
Asked about the report, McAvoy said he hadn’t given it much thought.
“I know what I went through, and I know how I feel about it, but I’m not really sure how other people felt, to be honest,” he said. “So . . . I’ll just leave that there. It’s been a lot. It’s been tough.”
McAvoy was crushed to not be able to play in the
championship game against Canada at TD Garden. Yet the experience, including being an alternate captain, left a huge impression.
Just hours after leaving MGH, McAvoy got a call from Team USA coach Mike Sullivan, who is also
his father-in-law, asking if he wanted to read the starting lineup for the game.
“I had a lot going on mentally, emotionally, physically, and I wanted to do it. And then, I honestly couldn’t even tell you what happened,” said McAvoy, who delivered the lineup with his arm in a sling.
McAvoy was dealt some more blows when longtime teammates and friends Brad Marchand, Brandon Carlo, Charlie Coyle, and Trent Frederic were traded.
“It was really hard. There’s another aspect to this game that has nothing to do with on the ice, and that’s the friendships of it and the relationships and the reality of, I’ve been here a while now, and I’ve seen a lot of my friends no longer here,” he said. “And I understand that there’s a business part of it, I do. I get it, but it doesn’t make it easier to see a lot of your best buddies now being in other spots.”
Moving ahead is the focus as McAvoy and fellow alternate captain David Pastrnak try to formulate a plan to lead a new group.
“It’s probably our most important objective is how we’re going to get it back and what we’re going to do and how are we going to leave it better than the way that we found it? And we’ve certainly got some work to do on that front.”