On Sunday night, fans filed into TD Garden to see the Boston Bruins take the ice for the first time after a longer offseason than usual for the team. But for Charlie McAvoy, the time away was even longer.
For him, Sunday marked his first game action on Garden ice since Feb. 8, just prior to sustaining a season-ending shoulder injury during his stint with Team USA during the 4 Nations Face-Off.
Fans who enjoy McAvoy’s game usually cite his defensive reliability, passion and exciting big hits in key moments as their reasons. But, McAvoy’s affinity for big hits may also have played a role in some of his injury history, and the defenseman said this year he’s reconsidering the risk of that style of play on his own body.
“I'm confident in my body to do that,” he said. “The game is adapting, changing, right? How often do I need to do that is probably the question. Can you still impose a threat just being who you are, just closing on guys? That's probably something that I'm trying to look at, versus trying to make a big hit multiple times in 82 games. I think I play too many minutes and try and do too much to maybe do that as often as I'd like to. So I think maybe playing smarter is something I'll be trying to do.”
The good news is, McAvoy feels healthy and fresh, as he has said multiple times this preseason.
“It’s good to play hockey again,” McAvoy said after Sunday’s preseason game. “I think when the preseason gets going, some good, some bad, but it was just good to be back out there again, and good to feel good. My body feels really good. Now just time to get the timing back and get the legs back under you.”
"I'm as healthy as I've been in a long time,” McAvoy said after participating in the Bruins’ first day of captains practice back on Sept. 2. “I had a lot of time to get my body right and I was able to do everything. For me, it was extremely beneficial from a mental standpoint and from a physical standpoint, too, to be able to be back to what feels like normal.”