‘It cost me my season': Charlie McAvoy on decision to play against Canada and scary infection details

New York Times

17-04-2025

BRIGHTON, Mass. — On Feb. 16, Charlie McAvoy and his Team USA teammates at the 4 Nations Face-Off retired for the night at their Boston hotel. McAvoy could not sleep. His right shoulder was hurting too much. It had swollen to the point where his trapezius was unrecognizable.
By the next morning, following a sleepless night, McAvoy was in even more pain. Red streaks were criss-crossing from his shoulder toward the middle of his chest. McAvoy's condition was so concerning that he had to go to Massachusetts General Hospital.
Advertisement
It was the right decision. In retrospect, McAvoy should have gone even earlier. Doctors diagnosed McAvoy with a staph infection that needed prompt attention. He underwent an irrigation and debridement procedure on Feb. 18.
McAvoy's condition was the result of a painkilling shot he took after the Americans' 6-1 win over Finland on Feb. 13. It eased the discomfort of the shoulder injury he suffered that day and allowed him to play in the U.S.'s 3-1 win over Canada two days later.
But the injury, shot and infection came with a high price: a serious health scare and the Boston Bruins' final 25 games. He was discharged from Mass General with a sling on his right arm and a peripherally inserted central catheter, or a PICC line, delivering medication to treat his infection. Last week, he finally concluded his regimen of antibiotics, which were so plentiful that they were given to him in a tub.
'It cost me my season. It cost me a lot,' McAvoy said. 'I spent a lot of time emotionally just sitting with it. Because that was the reality of it. I'm sitting at home with a PICC line and this and that, I can't play and I can't help my team. It felt like it was a whole other season. I don't even remember anything before that, honestly. Because I only remember what the last two months have felt like. And it just hasn't been fun.'
McAvoy practiced regularly with the Bruins before Tuesday's regular-season finale without restrictions. But the medical staff did not clear him to play. He does not have the green light to participate in the World Championships.
'We were preparing, from the moment I could skate, to play hockey this season,' McAvoy said. 'It gave me purpose. It gave me a reason — not to get out of bed; it wasn't that dramatic — to come to the rink and behave like I still had a reason. The reason was that if we went on a run and we needed to win three of the last four or something like that, I'd have been training and in a position to do so.'
But McAvoy had suffered a Grade 5 AC joint separation. It is severe. The injury usually takes three months before a player can return to play. Had the Bruins qualified for the playoffs, McAvoy might have been able to push it to dress.
Advertisement
'If I had to play right now, games were meaningful and the playoffs started next week, I think we would be having a serious conversation about trying to clear me to do it,' McAvoy said. 'But this was going to take a while to get back to 100 percent. I didn't know that at the time.'
McAvoy's original injury happened against Finland when Joel Armia cross-checked him from behind. It is impossible to tell how much it worsened against Canada. But McAvoy probably did not help his cause by bringing down the boom on Connor McDavid. Teammates called it a game-changing hit.
In 2017, he and Team USA beat Canada in the title game of the World Juniors. They beat Canada in the title game in Montreal. Playing against Canada eight years later as a professional — at the Bell Centre, no less — was nonnegotiable.
'Every part of that 4 Nations was a dream come true. And there's a reason why I played in that game,' McAvoy said. 'Because I'm not missing this game I've dreamt of my whole life. It's the aftermath of that. It cost me my year. And there's a lot of … I don't want to say regret, but just an acceptance of what happened. And it sucks. I'm still trying to come to grips with it. But I wouldn't trade it.'
McAvoy saw childhood friend Matthew Tkachuk square off against Brandon Hagel. He watched fellow ex-Boston University Terrier Brady Tkachuk fight Sam Bennett. The Americans' win qualified them for the title match. Their next game against Sweden two days later would be meaningless.
So McAvoy thought he'd sit out against Sweden and be ready to play in the championship game on Feb. 20.
Instead, he landed in the hospital. To this point, nobody knows why the infection happened.
'It could have been my Under Armour that was dirty, or my gear or this or that, or a pillow at the hotel,' McAvoy said. 'It could have been anything. That's why there's no ill will with anybody involved. And guess what? We can sit here and talk about it, and the head of infectious diseases at Mass General doesn't know how it happened. So we can speculate all day. And trust me, I have. You think I don't want to blame somebody for this?'
Advertisement
McAvoy was at home on March 7 when the Bruins traded Brad Marchand, Brandon Carlo and Charlie Coyle. It ate him up not to be with his teammates in Tampa, Fla., that day. It hurt even more to not give them a post-deadline hand when things went sideways.
'You're running a race and you don't get to cross the finish line,' McAvoy said of skating and practicing with his teammates but not being cleared to play. 'I ran the whole thing but didn't finish. That's sort of how it feels. It's disheartening in every way. Then you're watching your friends, your teammates, struggle. You're trying to be there to help with that. You can't. So many things this year, which is unfortunate. So there's frustration.
'There's certainly motivation to never be here again — to find ways to improve this culture and get back to what it looks like. Because this isn't a good place to be right now.'
McAvoy is trying to see the positive. He has four-plus months to train compared to the two of a Stanley Cup champion. Next year, he will welcome back fellow defenseman Hampus Lindholm, who dressed in only 17 games because of a broken patella.
McAvoy considers himself, Lindholm and David Pastrnak primarily responsible for leading the way out of the darkness. They will begin the process next week in meetings with management to set the course.
'We will do it,' McAvoy said. 'What an opportunity, what an exciting challenge for us to be the people that will get it back to where it needs to be. That's how I'm sitting here. We're all looking at it the same way. It's not going to be easy. But it can be done.'