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Report: Charlie McAvoy admitted to hospital as Team USA hockey deals with wave of injuries
Team USA hockey played without Auston Matthews, Matthew Tkachuk, and Charlie McAvoy on Monday.
Team USA hockey is set to battle Canada in the 4 Nations Face-Off championship game on Thursday — marking one of the most anticipated hockey games in recent memory.
But it remains to be seen just how many star players will be able to suit up for the Americans — including U.S. alternate captain and Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy.
McAvoy did not play in Team USA’s final round-robin matchup against Sweden on Monday night at TD Garden, with U.S. head coach (and McAvoy’s father-in-law) Mike Sullivan noting postgame that the bruising blueliner is dealing with an upper-body injury.
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That ailment is seemingly serious, as Jim McBride of The Boston Globe — citing two sources — reported Monday night that McAvoy was admitted to Mass. General Hospital Monday night to treat whatever injury is plaguing him.
Ty Anderson of 98.5 The Sports Hub reported earlier on Monday that McAvoy’s status for Thursday was in doubt due to injury.
McAvoy was a force in Team USA’s dramatic win over Canada in Montreal on Saturday — doling out several bone-crunching hits against superstars Connor McDavid and Sidney Crosby while logging 19:27 of ice time.
It’s unclear what led to McAvoy’s injury, as he finished all of Saturday’s game against Canada. He did grab his shoulder after getting cross-checked into a post by Joel Armia during Team USA’s win over Finland on Thursday.
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While both Team USA and the Bruins await more word on McAvoy’s status moving forward, the Americans have several other injury woes worth sorting through ahead of Thursday’s game.
Top forwards Matthew Tkachuk (lower body) and Auston Matthews (upper body) also sat out Monday’s game against Sweden, while fellow bruiser Brady Tkachuk left in the first period on Monday after colliding into a net post — leaving the team with just 10 forwards for most of the night.
“Brady obviously had a lower body injury,” Sullivan said. “We held him out more for precautionary reasons at that point. I haven’t got an update to this point after the game yet, so we’ll see how he responds. But I don’t anticipate it being an issue.”
Matthew Tkachuk missed the final 12 minutes of Saturday’s win over Canada due to injury, although his younger brother noted Monday morning that he’d “be good to go” for Thursday night.
Matthews’ absence was also a surprise ahead of puck drop on Monday, although Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported that there is “no concern” about him missing Thursday’s final.
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While the writing seems to be on the wall that all three of Matthews and the Tkachuk brothers will be cleared for Thursday, McAvoy’s status remains up in the air — spelling trouble for both the Americans’ blue line and a Bruins defense in need of a jolt once regular-season play resumes.
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