Marc Savard Done For The Season

Added on Feb 08, 2011 by J Merrill in

NHL

Boston Bruins forward Marc Savard announced today that he will miss the rest of the season due to ongoing problems from 2 concussions he received in ten months time. The Bruins placed him on season ending injured reserve.

Savard admitted he was still having symptoms including head aches, short-term memory loss, and “seeing dots.” He missed the first 23 games of the season due to post-concussion symptoms stemming from a concussion he suffered last March 7 on a blindside hit from Matt Cooke.

Savard was joined by general manager Peter Chiarelli and team physician Dr. Peter Asnis at the news conference. Team captain Zdeno Chara and alternate captains Patrice Bergeron and Mark Recchi were also present. Savard said “It was a tough decision, but it was the best decision to say I was done for the season and for the playoffs.” Savard was obviously distraught during the press conference, and he recalled the hit he took from Matt Hunwick when they played Colorado. Savard said “I think when that hit happened against Colorado, I said to (athletic trainer) Don Del Negro, ‘Why? Why again?’ So it’s tough. I guess things happen in hockey. It’s a fast game and it’s something that I’ll just have to get over.”

Chiarelli talked about making the decision, and how they went about it. He said it “We spoke on a couple of occasions after the latest concussion. He’s been having recurring symptoms and obviously the proximity between the last concussion and this concussion have led us to this decision. Over the weekend, I met with Marc’s representative, Larry Kelly. Marc met with the doctors and the medical staff here on Friday and we came to this conclusion.”

Savard talked about some of the symptoms he was dealing with, he said “There’s still some headaches off and on, but the thing that scares me most is little memory things where I forget I’ve asked someone a question or little things like that.” The question on everyones mind was, is Savard retiring from Hockey? Hes said “I’ve obviously tried to stay away from that right now. It’s tough enough as it is to not be able to finish the season. I’m going to get some more medical stuff done, and then I’ll be able to make a clear decision on my future. Right now, I’m hoping to be able to continue at some point.”

Bergeron said he has been trying to help Savard make the right decision. He said “I told him really make sure you’re honest with yourself and really make sure you know how you’re feeling. I think he did that. It was tough for him to make that decision and I think the doctors and all the medical staff and management did a great job like they did with me and I’m sure they’re going to do the same thing with him.”

Placing Savard on IR gives the Bruins some room under the salary cap, and it enables Chiarelli to go out and look for a center to take his place on the roster. Chiarelli broke it down, and said “We built the team down the middle, or straight down the middle with our centermen, and obviously there will be a gap now,” Chiarelli said. “So we’re going to have to look to fill that gap. We’re not going to be able to replace Marc. So we’re going to have to be a little more diligent seeing what’s out there. Right now we’re looking at Zach Hamill up the middle and don’t know if he’s the answer or not, but we want to go far in the playoffs and we want some experience too. We’re obviously going to have some flexibility now with replacement players, so in the next few weeks prior to the trade deadline, we’ll be busy.”