Bruins ‘extremely unhappy’ over handling of McAvoy injury

Even though McAvoy put together a dominant performance in Saturday’s win over Canada, Friedman noted that McAvoy’s condition deteriorated in short order after the weekend — prompting the Bruins to admit him to the hospital.  

“Fom what I understand, on Monday he was in a bit more pain, and was admitted to the hospital, and they realized the injury was more severe than believed or initially diagnosed,” Friedman said of McAvoy. “And number two, there was an infection there that had to be operated on and removed. So, I don’t know if he was given a needle or shot or something like that, and it got infected, but it was something along these lines.

“I remember yesterday when it was the Bruins and not Team USA that announced that McAvoy was out, there were people saying, ‘How come the Bruins, whose GM is the GM of Team Canada, are announcing that Charlie McAvoy wouldn’t play?’ And then it became pretty clear that it’s because the Bruins were extremely unhappy with the way this had been handled, and that they felt that in this particular case, McAvoy didn’t get the proper care.”

As Friedman noted, the Bruins were the ones who announced in statements on Tuesday and Wednesday that McAvoy was both admitted to the hospital and was ruled out of Thursday’s game against Canada — not Team USA. 

Wednesday’s statement from the team was from Bruins physician Dr. Peter Asnis, who offered plenty of details about McAvoy’s condition, which — as Friedman noted — was far worse than what was initially expected after that game against Finland. 

“Charlie McAvoy sustained an injury to his right shoulder acromioclavicular joint in Team USA’s 4 Nations Face-Off game against Finland on February 13,” Asnis’ statement noted. “He underwent treatment, which was administered by Team USA’s medical staff. Upon returning to Boston, he developed increasing pain, for which he was evaluated by the Boston Bruins’ medical staff.  

“After undergoing x-rays, MRIs, and bloodwork, he was diagnosed as having an infection in his right shoulder, as well as a significant injury to his AC joint. He underwent an irrigation and debridement procedure at Massachusetts General Hospital on February 18. He remains in the hospital, where he is being treated with IV antibiotics, and his condition is improving.” 

As reported by Ty Anderson of 98.5 The Sports Hub, Team USA’s medical team is the same group from the Minnesota Wild — who were brought in by Team USA GM (and Wild GM) Bill Guerin. 

The Bruins already have a gripe with the Wild medical team, considering the medicals they received last year regarding Pat Maroon’s recovery timeline were very different from what they assessed once they traded for him in March 2024. 

While Minnesota allowed Maroon to start skating again before the trade deadline in early March, the veteran winger did not make his debut for Boston until April 13.

 

Conor Ryan is a staff writer covering the Bruins, Celtics, Patriots, and Red Sox for Boston.com, a role he has held since 2023.