On the Mend: Marchand, McAvoy, Hall Talk Recoveries

BOSTON - Brad Marchand isn't used to taking his foot off the pedal.
But for now, he has no choice.

The winger is entering his fourth month of rehab after undergoing double hip arthroscopy and labral repair on May 27. The original timeline for recovery was set at roughly six months, which would have him back in uniform around Thanksgiving, a target date that he still has his sights fully set on.
"It takes time," Marchand said on Monday morning during Bruins Media Day at Warrior Ice Arena. "That will be the thing that's frustrating at some point is I'll feel good, feel like I'm ready, but there's still a process that you've got to follow to get back. Just trying to take it day by day and make sure there's no setbacks and nothing that holds me back from getting back when I want to.
"I don't want to be definitive in what the timetable is, [I'll] try to see how I feel. I haven't dealt with anything like this before where I feel really good, but I still have to be careful with where I'm at. My surgeries before, once I feel good, I can go. But it's not quite like that with this one. I've just got to be careful."
Marchand has been back on the ice for a couple of weeks but is progressing very deliberately while working with the club's medical staff to make sure that he doesn't push it too much and jeopardize his recovery.
"We're trying not to do too many stops and cutbacks," Marchand explained. "The thing with the surgery is my range should be a lot better, my stride, so I'm trying to implement that so when I get back, I'm not going back to doing short crossovers and I can use the new range and length that I have hopefully make me faster.
"That's what I'm trying to do, trying to slow everything down and make sure I build that into my skating so it becomes second nature and just trying not to do any tight cutbacks or stops, anything that could grab at some point. It's just not worth it right now. It's more about making sure we follow the process and do what I'm told."

The 34-year-old said "there was a lot going on in" his hips that was affecting his skating but following the surgery, Marchand feels that he will be able to generate far more speed than he was in recent seasons.
"It was limiting my stride; they were short and choppy," he said. "I couldn't fully cross over the way you're supposed to. Now I can get over much further which should help me be faster. It's just trying to mentally be aware of that when I'm skating because when you just skate as hard as you can, you forget and go back to what your body knows and what you've done forever. It's just about making sure I use it and implement or otherwise I'm going to be missing out on speed that I should be able to have."
Charlie McAvoy is in a similar spot in his recovery from an offseason left shoulder arthroscopic stabilization procedure, which he underwent on June 3. The blue liner's timeline was also set for about six months, putting him on a similar trajectory as Marchand for a return to game action.
"It's hard to look that far into the future and have that date circled," said McAvoy. "We're really worried about one day at a time and making sure that we are stacking those bricks, those foundation bricks ahead of each other."

McAvoy praised the Bruins' training staff and team doctors for their efforts in his recovery, saying that their positive outlook has helped buoy his spirits.
"I haven't had to deal with anything like this as far as a long-term injury with that long-term recovery," said McAvoy. "It's been an adventure, for sure. I've had really good people in my corner along the way. It starts with our trainers, the doctors, who sort of breed a positivity around it to make it fun because it really isn't a fun thing to go through, a long rehab.
"But their energy is very contagious and for that reason, I think it's been good…we're having a lot of good days and it's just about stacking them one in front of the other… so even if you're not back tomorrow or the day after, but down the road, we keep it as those little milestones along the way so we're always checking things off and feeling good about our work."
Taylor Hall, meanwhile, appears to be closing in on a return. After suffering an upper-body injury during the B's exhibition contest against the Philadelphia Flyers on…the winger was originally termed week-to-week. But Hall quickly resumed skating and on Monday practiced in a regular white practice jersey, putting him on track to be in the lineup on Wednesday night in Washington.
"I feel good. On track to play on Wednesday," said Hall. "I don't know, it was an injury that was pretty painful at the start and then it got better really quickly. I was able to start skating. If this happens middle of the season, I don't know if I miss maybe one game, maybe zero. We're just trying to be cautious but, yeah, ready to play on Wednesday."
With all of Boston's injured players likely to be back at different points - Matt Grzelcyk also remains sidelined, though he appears close to a return as well - McAvoy is hoping that each gives the club a bit of a boost upon their return.
"Management has put us in a great position depth-wise to be able to withstand something like this," said McAvoy. "We'll all be back at different times and look into the future with that, see it as a big energy boost. Hopefully we can all come in at different times and sort of re-energize the room. I think it could really help us a team when we get back to bring that positive energy. Really excited about that."