McAvoy opens up on tough year: 'Motivation to never be here again'
Few players are happier to leave the 2024-25 season behind than Charlie McAvoy.
The defenseman opened up during his final media availability Thursday about how it felt to deal with a season-ending shoulder injury at the 4 Nations Face-Off on top of the Boston Bruins' abysmal campaign.
"You're running a race and you don't get to cross the finish line," he said. "I ran the whole thing but didn't finish. That's sort of how it feels. It's disheartening in every way. And then you're watching your friends, your teammates struggle. You're trying to be there to help with that - you can't. So many things this year were just unfortunate.
"There's frustration, there's certainly motivation to never be here again, to find ways for us to improve this culture, to get back to what it looks like because this isn't a good place to be right now."
He added, "I don't even feel like I played hockey this year."
McAvoy suited up for 50 games this season, recording seven goals and 23 points while averaging a team-leading 23:40 of ice time per contest.
The blue-liner's campaign came crashing down in February, though, after suffering a significant injury to his acromioclavicular joint while representing the United States at the 4 Nations Face-Off. He had to be hospitalized to undergo a procedure to clean out an infection in his shoulder.
Boston was reportedly unhappy about how Team USA handled McAvoy's ailment, but he made clear Thursday that he's more angry at the whole situation rather than any individual.
"Mentally, emotionally, physically, I've gone through so much because of that damn experience," he said. "It cost me my season, it cost me my sanity in a lot of ways. None of this has been easy and I get emotional when I talk about it. Look, yeah, it was an incredible experience and I waited my whole life to be a part of something like that. But the way that it ended and the aftermath of it and what I had to go through, it cost me a lot more than I was willing to give, and that's unfortunate.
"But it's over now. ... After we talk about it, I don't want to talk about it ever again, honestly."
The Bruins went a paltry 6-15-4 in McAvoy's absence on top of dealing key players such as former captain Brad Marchand, center Charlie Coyle, and defenseman Brandon Carlo before the March 7 trade deadline.
Boston ended the season with a 33-39-10 record to miss the playoffs for the first time since 2016.
McAvoy is eager to meet with other leaders such as David Pastrnak to help the Bruins right the ship, and the work might start as early as next week.
"What an opportunity," he said. "What an exciting challenge for us to be the people that will get it back to where it needs to be. ... It's not going to be easy, but it can be done."