Long Beach native Charlie McAvoy ahead of schedule for Bruins
Charlie McAvoy #73 of the Boston Bruins reacts after assisting on a goal by teammate Erik Haula #56 against the Carolina Hurricanes during the third period in Game Six of the First Round of the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs at the TD Garden on May 12, 2022 in Boston, Massachusetts. Credit: Getty Images
Long after the Boston Bruins finished up their morning skate at Madison Square Garden ahead of Thursday’s game against the Rangers, Charlie McAvoy remained on the ice, trying to get himself ready for a return to action after recovering from shoulder surgery in June.
“Those are our opportunities to stay out, put the extra work in … to kind of supplement the conditioning when you're not playing in a game,’’ McAvoy said after he was finally done with his workout. “You’ve got to make the most of that time. The team's playing really well, so we get more and more off days when it's going like that. So you know, that's less time for me to go out and get a little bit of activity.’’
McAvoy, the Long Beach native, underwent an arthroscopic procedure in early June to repair an injury suffered in Game 6 of the Bruins’ first-round playoff series against the Carolina Hurricanes. McAvoy played in Game 7 -- the Bruins were eliminated -- then an MRI revealed the injury and surgery was recommended. The original timeline was that he would be out six months, meaning a Dec. 1 return, but the 24-year-old defenseman began practicing with the team last week and Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said he is ahead of schedule.
“He’s ahead of that Dec. 1 date, but we don’t know exactly,’’ Montgomery said. "There’s boxes to be checked.’’
McAvoy himself doesn’t know when he’ll return, but he said he is “getting excited,’’ because “I don't think it should be too much longer now.’’
“The next step is just being in a position where you can check all the boxes as far as ‘feel’ goes, (having) confidence in how you're feeling, and strength,’’ he said. “It's about getting stronger. It's about supporting those muscles around it, and getting to a spot where you feel like you can give and take contact.’’
The Rangers debuted their Lady Liberty jerseys. They will wear them for eight home games during the season … C Filip Chytil missed his sixth game with an upper-body injury, but Rangers coach Gerard Gallant said he is close to returning. The Rangers used the same lineup as they did Tuesday against Philadelphia, meaning D Libor Hajek was the healthy scratch.
Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
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