We all received the unfortunate news today that Bruins center Marc Savard will not play in the 2011-2012 NHL season. Even though Savard has not yet been examined by doctors, he is still suffering from post-concussion syndrome. He is also not expected to attend Bruins camp when it opens up on September 16th.
I recently published a blog post about the possible proposal that Bruins General Manager Peter Chiarelli offered to the veteran. Savard will be placed on long term injured reserve in order to collect the money on his contract. His contract ends after the 2016-2017 season. Now this offer will only take place if Savard does not retire. However, after the latest news that broke today it does not look like that he will ever play hockey again.
With that being said, the absence of Savard will end certain debates about who will play on what line. There would have been serious debate about where he would play if he came back: would he have resumed his role as the first-line center? Would he have played as a winger like he did in the 2009-2010 playoffs? Would he have been a center on a different line? All very debatable questions, but those questions generate answers to other questions: the first line of David Krejci, Nathan Horton, and Milan Lucic will remain intact, Tyler Seguin will see playing time on the second line, and Benoit Pouliot and Jordan Caron will battle for the final roster spot.
If Savard's career is over, here is a look at what his final stats look like: 807 career games with 207 goals and 499 assists for a total of 706 points. At 34 years old, it must be difficult for him to come to the realization that he cannot play anymore when he know that he still can.
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