Gotta See It: Bruins’ Savard opens up about his “living Hell“

The retired veteran pulls back the curtain on the injuries that forced him from the game he loves.

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 6 years ago
Gotta See It: Bruins’ Savard opens up about his “living Hell“
Keystone Press

The rise and fall of Boston Bruins forward Marc Savard is a story that’s been well reported throughout the NHL. However, the story of the veteran forward’s retirement from the game and his subsequent life since retirement has never been told in his own words. Until now. 

Forced from the game he loved and excelled at due to multiple concussions, Savard has opened up for the first time with a harrowing article for The Players’ Tribune. It’s a heart-felt and gut wrenching account of the events that led up to Savard’s decision to retire that’s filled with shocking revelations.

When describing the moments after being rocked cleanly by Colorado Avalanche defensman Matt Hunwick, Savard recounted, “My teammates escorted me to the dressing room, and I had a tough couple of minutes in there. I was sobbing. I remember my coach, Claude Julien, coming in and trying to console me. But I couldn’t be consoled. I knew I had just played my last game in the NHL. I kept thinking: “I have kids. I have a family to worry about. I’m only 33. What am I going to do? I can’t go through this pain again. I can’t go through these dark days. Again.”

Wow. One can only imagine the difficulty in the decision Savard had to make in that moment. Does he regret having to retire? You bet. But he admits that it was a necessary decision. Savard ends his article by saying, “I dream about playing again, every single waking moment. I’m just being honest.”