BOSTON – Charlie McAvoy has never experienced any knee issues before in his hockey career, so he was understandably freaked out when his left knee gave out before he crashed into the side boards on Saturday.
- MORE BRUINS - Backes on his suspension: "It's the world we live in"
The Bruins doctors knew pretty quickly it was an MCL injury rather than an ACL that could threaten the rest of his season, but the severity was still a little bit in question in the days after it happened.
“I had never had any sort of knee problem, so I was a little scared,” said McAvoy. “Natural feelings because it was something I’d never felt before. Now I’m just fortunate it wasn’t anything more severe.”
With the timetable of four weeks set for the 20-year-old to potentially make a return, McAvoy said it’s his aim to get back in time for a couple of regular-season games prior to the start of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Nobody can say for certain that will happen almost a month ahead of time, but McAvoy and the Bruins certainly sound as if they’re convinced it’s an attainable goal. He’s got youth on his side as well as a Bruins training staff that’s been able to get a number of players back ahead of their recovery timetables before. Still, the team isn’t going to rush their prized rookie D-man either.
- MORE HAGGERTY - B's first taste of life without McAvoy looked a little rough
“My goal is to get back as soon as I can…as fast as possible. But that being said I’m not putting myself in at risk to come back early and potentially hurt it again. That really wouldn’t do well for me, or for the team. Nobody wins if that was the scenario,” said McAvoy, who is probably kissing goodbye any chances of winning the Calder Trophy as a result of a late-season injury essentially wiping out the last month of his regular season. “We’re working really hard with a good game plan for the necessary steps for me to come back. My ultimate goal would be to get back for some regular season games so I can give myself an opportunity to get back to pace and try to find my game before the playoffs. Whatever happens, there will be a reason behind it.”
There are a couple of things working in the favor of McAvoy and the Bruins. McAvoy experienced the playoffs last spring, so jumping into the postseason isn’t going to be a completely foreign experience. There’s also the fact that the Bruins are in a comfortable spot as the second seed in the Atlantic Division with dwindling chances of either rising or sinking, so there won’t be any real push to rush McAvoy back ahead of the initial schedule set forth.
