Charlie McAvoy back skating, but dealing with concussion symptoms taken at Warrior Ice Arena (Bruins)

Scott Audette/NHLI via Getty Images)

Bruins

Charlie McAvoy back skating, but dealing with concussion symptoms

By Conor Ryan

Nov 9, 2018 • 3:45 pm

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The ongoing saga regarding Charlie McAvoy’s lingering absence from game action due to an upper-body injury finally gained some clarity on Friday afternoon.

Speaking at Warrior Ice Arena, Don Sweeney confirmed that while McAvoy is slowly progressing back from injury, he confirmed that the cause of McAvoy’s ailment is indeed concussion-like symptoms — which started to become more severe following the B’s road matchup against the Oilers back on Oct. 18. McAvoy has not played in a game since.

While McAvoy was back on the ice and skating prior to the team’s practice on Friday — the first time he’s done that since his injury — Sweeney added that there are still plenty of hurdles for the 20-year-old defenseman to clear.



“Charlie's timeline is such that he had some vestibular issues in and around training camp,” Sweeney said. “But definitively, coming out of the Edmonton game, (he) had a conversation with our doctors and our medical staff that he had more concussive symptoms. At that point in time, we sent Charlie home.

“He's clearly been in protocol since and progressing. But again, until we have sort of definitive answers on things, we'd like to continue to allow our medical staff to have a full and correct diagnosis. We're at the stage where he's making progress, but there's no timeline. Obviously, he's back on the ice and continues to make progress, but we'll see how it goes."




While Friday’s news did cut down on the speculation regarding McAvoy’s ailment, it’s been an odd stretch for McAvoy — with
Bruce Cassidy
mentioning last week that he was “not aware” of a concussion being the cause for McAvoy’s absence, but did note that he was feeling “off” all the way back during Boston’s preseason trip to China.


“He hasn’t been shut down specifically,” Cassidy said of McAvoy on Thursday. “We didn’t say, ‘Ok, he’s out for three weeks off the ice.’ It’s a matter of him feeling up to the next stage. ... That’s between him and the medical staff and him to make that determination. From there, it’s getting into practice and getting into game shape.”




In terms of feeling “off”, Sweeney reiterated that McAvoy occasionally dealt with problems regarding coordination or balance — a warning sign when it comes to concussion issues.


"Again, he had had some on and off vestibular issues,” Sweeney said. “But coming out of Edmonton was the first time, definitively, he had said that, 'I don't feel right.' At that point in time, the symptoms that he described to both our medical staff and our doctor, we sent him home at that point."


While McAvoy has yet to return to team skating sessions, the sight of him back in skates and out on the ice was certainly a step in the right direction for a Bruins club in desperate need of his services on the blue line.

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Even though he has skated ahead of Bruins’ practices for close to a week now,
Kevan Miller
is still at least three weeks away from returning to game action, according to Sweeney. Miller also went down with an injury during Boston’s game against Edmonton on Oct. 18, suffering an injury after blocking a shot with his hand. Following the injury, the team announced that Miller would be re-evaluated in three weeks. 


While Miller was in a cast for the following couple of weeks, he has been spotted with a stick as of late during his skating sessions at Warrior Ice Arena. 

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