Boston Bruins
“I’m not sure when they’ll arrive and hopefully soon because of obviously the flight and the weather conditions.”
Charlie McAvoy won Olympic gold with Team USA on Sunday. AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster
The Bruins will have plenty at stake on Thursday when they return from over three weeks off due to the Winter Olympics in Milano-Cortina.
Boston currently sits in the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference with a 32-20-5 record and 69 points. The next team behind them in the standings — just below the playoff cut-off — are the Columbus Blue Jackets, who sit four points behind Boston.
The Blue Jackets will take on the Bruins on Thursday at TD Garden, with Boston looking to start off this stretch run on a high note and Columbus — winners of seven-straight games entering the break — trying to narrow the gap in the standings.
As Marco Sturm and his players continue to work their way back into game shape after an extended break, it remains to be seen when two of Boston’s top players in Charlie McAvoy and Jeremy Swayman will be back on the ice.
As of Tuesday afternoon, Sturm was still not sure when McAvoy and Swayman will be back on the ice with their teammates and what their availability will be on Thursday against Columbus.
“It’s very tough to follow them. I don’t even know where they at right now,” Sturm said with a smile following Tuesday’s practice at TD Garden. “At one point I know New York didn’t work out for all the guys because of the weather and they got stuck in Miami.
“Now, I guess they are seeing [President Donald Trump]. So honestly, I’m not sure when they’ll arrive and hopefully soon because of obviously the flight and the weather conditions.”
McAvoy and Swayman have spent the last few days celebrating with Team USA after helping the U.S. win its first Olympic gold medal in men’s hockey since 1980 with a 2-1 overtime win over Canada.
The team was originally slated to fly back from Italy to New York on Monday, but was instead diverted to Miami due to the widespread blizzard impacting most of the Northeast.
The men’s hockey team celebrated their win in Florida Monday night before flying up to Washington DC to attend Trump’s State of the Union address at the US Capitol. A majority of Team USA — including McAvoy and Swayman — made the trip to DC and met with Trump at the White House.
It remains to be seen if McAvoy and Swayman will be on the ice and skating with the Bruins on Wednesday at Warrior Ice Arena, or if they might be an option on Thursday.
Team USA and Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski also made the trip to Washington on Tuesday, but he is expected to play against the Bruins on Thursday, per Aaron Portzline of The Athletic.
As the Bruins await the return of McAvoy and Swayman, several other Olympic participants including David Pastrnak, Joonas Korpisalo, and Henri Jokiharju participated in practice Tuesday.
Pastrnak and Team Czechia nearly defeated Canada in the knockout round before falling in overtime, while both Korpisalo and Jokiharju took home a bronze medal while playing for Finland.
“Yeah, it was tough. Obviously, we hadn’t played a good game the whole tournament as a team or the way we expected ourselves to play,” Pastrnak said. “So, the only positive is that we did have one good game as a team, but obviously it stinks. It hurts. We were so close to doing something special and we had the lead late in the [third] period [against Canada], so it was tough.
“Yeah, so obviously it’s been a while [but] super proud of our group, the way we responded after the Denmark game, and we came together and we were able to face the best and put [a] good game out there. So proud on that but obviously disappointing with the outcome.”
If Swayman isn’t ready for Thursday, Sturm said, Korpisalo should be ready to go if they turn to him against Columbus.
“I want to see, first of all, how Sway is,” Sturm said of Boston’s goalie decision moving forward. “We’ve got [Michael DiPietro] here, too, and Korpi. I think it was a good thing that he came today to be on the ice and have at least two practices with us. I think he’ll be good to go on Thursday if we decide [to go] with him.”
As the Bruins await McAvoy and Swayman’s return, Pastrnak said his two Bruins teammates should relish their accomplishment after overcoming Canada in Milan.
“They deserve it and they’ve accomplished something big. Winning a gold medal is obviously everybody’s dream. They deserve the celebration,” Pastrnak said. “Whenever they come, we’ll be happy. They’re a big part of our group. But this doesn’t happen every day so they have to make sure they enjoy it and celebrate it. They accomplished something that hadn’t been done for a while in the USA.”
Conor Ryan is a staff writer covering the Bruins, Celtics, Patriots, and Red Sox for Boston.com, a role he has held since 2023.
Sign up for the Today newsletter
Get everything you need to know to start your day, delivered right to your inbox every morning.
