BOSTON– Brad Merchant made his season debut for the Boston Bruins against the Detroit Red Wings at TD Garden on Thursday, weeks ahead of schedule after undergoing double hip surgery last spring.
The left winger was in the starting line-up after taking part in morning training on the front row with Patrice Bergeron and Jake DeBrusk. He practiced in the top unit on the power play and led the streak at the end of practice Wednesday.
“We had this date circled on the calendar months ago,” Marchand said Thursday. “You know, we obviously wanted to keep it kind of close because a lot of different variables on what things might happen or how I was going to feel, we weren’t quite sure, but we kind of ticked the box all the way each step we took and progress I felt great and responded very well and was able to give a ton of credit to the training staff they did a phenomenal job .
Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said Marchand would play Thursday a day after saying he wasn’t expecting it.
“I was a little shy yesterday because we didn’t want to get ahead of ourselves,” Montgomery said. “We wanted to see how he reacted to good, hard training. I’m excited to coach him and see the energy and work ethic he will bring to the Bruins tonight.
Marchand will not play with the Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday. The Bruins’ next game after that is Tuesday against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
“He’s not going to play in Columbus because we don’t want him to travel, and just back to normal to play after, you know, what he’s been through, we’re not going to have him play back to back nights and we’re going to allow him to recover here, and we also have a favorable schedule to allow him to recover for four days,” Montgomery said.
Marchand underwent hip arthroscopy and labral repair of both hips on May 27. The initial payback period was set at six months, putting his return at the end of November.
“As soon as it occurred to me that I was going to have surgery, [the doctors] told me it was going to be the end of November. I said to myself: ‘It will not be the end of November. We’ll see what we can do,” Marchand said. “So we sat down and talked, and they knew where I was and what I was hoping to do, and they said, ‘Okay, let’s see what we can do’, but obviously you know, we’re dealing with rehab, and we have to make sure he heals properly.
“I was a little tired of it lately because we were approaching game day, and you know, anything could have gone wrong any day. I mean it almost happened. [Wednesday]I caught a rut and it could have been really ugly, so yeah, I was trying to make sure before I announced it it was going to be safe.”
Marchand said he wasn’t sure what to expect from himself on his season debut.
“It’s difficult because it’s a regular season game, it’s clearly not an exhibition game, but normally you have three or four to prepare for the season where, you know, you come in and you feel it and make sure you’re kind of where you want to be,” he said. “It’s okay to make mistakes, but that’s not the case tonight, and it’s So it’s about making sure that I’m not a handicap and that I don’t get in the way of the guys. They ride and feel great, so I mean the main thing is to keep it simple.”
Marchand credited the Bruins’ 6-1-0 success with helping him take his time, knowing they’re focused on long-term goals, including the Stanley Cup playoffs. Even without Marchand and the best defender Charlie McAvoywho was also scheduled to be out for six months following an arthroscopic left shoulder stabilization procedure on June 3, Boston rolled.
“It’s hard not to participate, but it definitely made it easier for the guys to win, so obviously I have to thank them for doing that,” Marchand said.
NHL.com Independent Correspondent Joseph Pohoryles contributed to this report
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