The only certainty is that Savard will not play again in the 2010-11 season.
Yesterday at TD Garden, following consultations with Savard, his agent, team management, and the medical staff, the Bruins announced that Savard’s season is over. The Bruins placed Savard on long-term injured reserve, which is where he started the season as he attempted to rebound from his previous concussion.
“This stops the temptation,’’ said Mark Recchi, who attended the news conference with teammates Patrice Bergeron and Zdeno Chara. “As a player, you try and do whatever you can to get back and play. I think this is just, ‘Let’s get him healthy. Worry about hockey in the summer and get ready for training camp if that’s the case.’ It gives him that much more time to get focused.
“If he comes back [now], his conditioning’s not going to be where it’s at. He’s going to put himself in a bad position. The one thing is that this keeps the temptation from a very competitive guy like Savvy.’’
When he’s healthy, Savard is alert and quick with a joke. Yesterday, he appeared pale, tired, and withdrawn. He slurred some of his words. Several times during a 23-minute news conference, he seemed on the verge of tears.
“I think I’m frustrated mostly,’’ said Savard. “It’s tough to understand why this happens. Obviously the most frustrating thing is to not be able to just know exactly what’s going on and how to cure it. I think it’s just time and patience. Those are things I feel like I don’t have much of. So that makes it tough.’’
Savard will return to his offseason home in Peterborough, Ontario, to rest and hope for his symptoms to clear. He is scheduled to return to Boston in several weeks for testing.
Savard suffered a severe concussion on March 7, 2010, when he was belted by the Penguins’ Matt Cooke. He missed the rest of the regular season and the first round of the playoffs, but returned for the second round against Philadelphia, scoring the overtime winner in Game 1.
Last summer, however, Savard was laid flat by post-concussion syndrome symptoms, which included depression. He missed all of training camp and the first 23 games of 2010-11. He ended up with two goals and eight assists in 25 games.
