McAvoy owns up to hit ‘mistake’
Charlie McAvoy issued a mea culpa Thursday, a day after the Bruins defenseman’s four-game suspension for an illegal hit to Florida’s Oliver Ekman-Larsson on Oct. 30 was upheld by NHL commissioner Gary Bettman.
McAvoy served the final game of his ban — a 5-2 Bruins win over the Islanders Thursday — and is poised to return to action Saturday night against the Canadiens in Montreal.
“What we were hoping for was just to get it reduced,” McAvoy said. “I understand the need for discipline there and take responsibility for my actions. I know I made a mistake on the play.
“But really the way that we understood it, and sort of the way it was explained to us by [head of player safety] George [Parros] and Player Safety was that a Rule 48 suspension — head contact — starts at two games and then you have two factors after that, and that’s injury and history.
“So there was no injury on the play, and I have a history, so two plus one is three, it’s not four. But there’s not really anything I can do about it.”
The history McAvoy was referring to was his one-game suspension for a hit on Columbus’s Josh Anderson during the 2019 playoffs.
McAvoy reached out to check in on Ekman-Larsson, who was not injured on the play.
McAvoy, an alternate captain and the Bruins’ top-scoring defenseman, felt he made a good case for a reduction during his hearing with Bettman.
“I thought I had a good chance,” he said. “I appreciated Mr. Bettman and his team taking the time. They seemed very receptive to what we had in our arguments, which I felt really good about.
“I felt we made some really good points. I think there were times we were really coming across with what we had and made a lot of sense. We brought comparables to the table that were the exact same thing and guys that have history.
“There were even ones that had injuries on the play that were Rule 48s that had three games and not four. It seemed like a new standard to us that they were trying to get across.”
McAvoy has a reputation as a physical presence, but not a dirty player. He knows he needs to be careful to avoid future discipline, but he still must play his game.
“It’s certainly something to think about,” said McAvoy. “I played a lot of games since my first suspension and throw hits every single game.
“I’ve established myself as someone who can play a physical style and play it clean. I made a mistake. The game moves fast. I asked for forgiveness, and I was forgiven when I spoke to Oliver.
“I made a mistake, but I think you can put a montage together — this was one of my arguments — of how to deliver clean hits. I feel like I play the game hard, but I play it respectfully. This definitely felt like sort of a slight to my character, but again, it was me that made the hit.”
McAvoy stressed that player safety is important to him and knows that recent events, including the death of American hockey player Adam Johnson in England, have brought that to the forefront.
“It was a weird week in hockey, right?” he said. “We all want to play this game and leave the rink as healthy as we showed up to it. And that was sort of highlighted with what happened with Adam Johnson.
“It was just sort of a reflective week on that. The last thing I ever want to do in this game is hurt anybody. I hope that’s unanimous across the board for everybody. It certainly wasn’t my intention and to find out he was OK and didn’t have any worries, I took a sigh of relief on that one.”
Happy returns
The Bruins did get Derek Forbort back in the lineup after the stout defenseman missed three straight games with a nagging groin injury that has bothered him since early in training camp. He played 17:31.
With Forbort in, Parker Wotherspoon was the healthy scratch from the blue line corps.
The club also activated forward Jakub Lauko, who returned to practice Wednesday after suffering a facial fracture and nasty cut in Chicago Oct. 24.
Lauko participated in the pregame skate, but did not suit up for the game.
Morgan Geekie (upper-body injury) was placed on injured reserve to make room for Lauko.
Marchand OK after fall
The Bruins had a small scare at the morning skate when Brad Marchand caught an edge during a rush to the net and tumbled awkwardly and hard into the corner boards. He left briefly holding his arm, but returned to finish the short session. “I think Forby said he was going to get me, or try to,” quipped Marchand, who said he was fine . . . It was Military Appreciation night and the Bruins arrived in olive green and black themed sweaters. Select Bruins players, including Johnny Beecher, Patrick Brown, Brandon Carlo, Charlie Coyle, Forbort, Trent Frederic, Matt Grzelcyk, McAvoy, Kevin Shattenkirk, Jeremy Swayman, and James van Riemsdyk purchased more than $24,000 in tickets for active military members and veterans to attend the game . . . Hampus Lindholm continued to wear the ‘A’ with McAvoy out . . . Milan Lucic (foot) and Grzelcyk (upper body) skated before the morning workout. Both remain on long-term injured reserve . . . Gamer alert: Bruins legend Bobby Orr (a.k.a. The Goat) is making his first appearance in the EA Sports NHL franchise as a free playable character in NHL 24 . . . Song of the night: “Joker and the Thief ” by Wolfmother.