Boston Bruins: Charlie McAvoy’s suspension weakens team for Game 1

The suspension of the Boston Bruins’ young defenseman, Charlie McAvoy for the Eastern Conference final opener leaves them somewhat susceptible to the Hurricanes’ strong possession entry game.

If there’s one thing Charlie McAvoy brings to his line, it’s his ability to read plays and effectively break them down before the Boston Bruins net is challenged. Riding shotgun with the Bruins’ ageing captain, Zdeno Chara; he has shown himself to be highly reliable defensively.

To his credit, he has owned the hit and suspension that came with it. Speaking with the Boston Herald, he simply states:

"“I felt for the most part I did get a really good amount of body, a healthy amount of body and I thought it was a full body check, but I’m just going to have to serve it.” – Charlie McAvoy (Boston Herald)"

Charlie McAvoy, throughout his tenure with the Boston Bruins, has shown himself to be more than comfortable dishing out physicality, but this is the first time he’s been deemed to have crossed the line, whether a fair call or not.

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In all actuality, the call on-ice was probably not the correct one; the choice by the NHL’s Department of Player Safety serving to make up for poor on-ice decision-making. You have to imagine that they’ve taken on-board the fact that Charlie McAvoy has never been suspended previously despite his physical game.

Likewise, the fact that he and Columbus Blue Jackets’ winger, Josh Anderson (who suffered the hit) appeared to have made amends in the handshake line, probably allowed the league to rule more favourably. Their handshake and words to each other was a genuine showing of sportsmanship, something that should never be over-looked.

Averaging nearly 25 minutes a night in the post-season, the Boston Bruins are obviously going to miss their young defenseman immensely in Game 1. It’ll be up to their defensive depth to show up and make up for the missing Charlie McAvoy. Brandon Carlo has been strong so far, but will Bruce Cassidy want to move him from his usual pairing?

Nullifying the Carolina threat will come down to breaking down plays early; without McAvoy, the Boston Bruins will be challenged, but even if they go down in Game 1 – there’s a quiet confidence among the line-up. You only need to look at the Toronto series that saw them fall behind three times over, before pulling the 4-3 series win out of the bag, to know that!

Play-off games are notoriously physical, hits happen. I doubt Charlie McAvoy is about to adjust any part of his game in light of the suspension – it’s a fact of playoff life.