Team USA under fire in Charlie McAvoy’s concerning medical controversy

Things have been going very terribly for the Boston Bruins this season, but more specifically since the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament that derailed their playoff hopes and got them off track.

Since returning from the tournament break, the Bruins have put up a dismal 3-13-3 record. They basically underwent a fire sale at the trade deadline, sending Brandon Carlo to the Toronto Maple Leafs, Charlie Coyle to the Colorado Avalanche, Justin Brazeau to the Minnesota Wild, and Trent Frederic to the Edmonton Oilers, and captain Brad Marchand to the Florida Panthers. On top of that, the Bruins have been without their star defenseman, Charlie McAvoy, who hasn’t played since February 8th and aggravated a shoulder injury during the 4 Nations Face-Off.

When McAvoy’s shoulder worsened, ultimately leading to an infection that required hospitalization, the Bruins were “extremely unhappy” with how Team USA’s medical staff handled their blue liner’s injury at the international tournament.

Earlier this week, Renaud Lavoie of TVA Sports reported that not only did McAvoy’s injury had been an issue prior to the tournament, but how Team USA reportedly made it worse as they attempted to treat it in order to keep McAvoy in the lineup.

“The Bruins weren’t happy with the way it was handled,” Lavoie said on Wednesday, translated from French. McAvoy told [the U.S. therapists]: “You do what you have to do, I’ll play.” Until there was an infection…”

No one knows what caused the infection, however, here’s the tricky and controversial part: according to Lavoie, it’s presumed that McAvoy received injections to be able to play with a torn shoulder. The infection could have resulted from the injections.

Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet had also pointed out that Team USA had possibly made the injury worse for McAvoy after the tournament.

“I don’t know if he was given a needle or shot or something like that, and it got infected (between the moment when he was injured and when he was admitted to the hospital), but it was something along these lines.”

Many fans now are blaming this whole ordeal to the Bruins’ furious slide in the standings.

When he recently spoke about his injury and the long recovery, McAvoy only shared how scary the experience had been.
There is still no timeline for when McAvoy will be healthy enough for game action. As for the Bruins, they will miss the playoffs for the first time since the 2015-16 NHL season.