Bruins defenseman Adam McQuaid went to deliver a hit on Philadelphia forward Mike Richards with 2:29 left in the first period of Monday’s Game 2 at the Wells Fargo Center. But Richards sidestepped the check and McQuaid went flying headfirst into the end boards.
It was a tough scene to witness, let alone put out of your mind to continue playing for the rest of the night.
“You block it out for the game, but everybody’s just pretty grateful [it wasn’t worse],” fellow defenseman Andrew Ference said Tuesday after the Bruins returned to the Garden. “The trainers usually come and give us a quick little word just to tell us how he’s doing in between periods, just to kind of put everybody at ease.
“But everybody’s played the game long enough that when you see certain injuries, there are ones that are scary like those kind of uncontrolled, awkward falls into the boards,” continued Ference, who has frequently been paired with McQuaid on the Boston blue line in the past two seasons. “Those are tough to watch. Those are worse than the big hits, because the big hits you’re usually ready for. You’re just kind of crossing your fingers that he’s all right.”
McQuaid appears to have escaped serious injury, but will be sidelined for at least a while.
“He suffered a sprained neck,” Bruins coach Claude Julien said. “Everything so far has come out negative, so he’s a day-to-day player right now.”
That’s certainly better news than originally feared when McQuaid crashed so violently into the boards.
“It’s not easy to look at,” said Tomas Kaberle, who has been McQuaid’s defensive partner since midway through the Montreal series. “When I saw it on the replay it didn’t look good, but he’s a tough kid and hopefully he’ll be back as soon as possible.”
McQuaid actually managed to skate off the ice with minimal assistance after staying down for several minutes, further proving his toughness — not that anyone would question that with the physical style of play he brings to the ice on a nightly basis. If anything, at least one teammate wouldn’t have minded seeing McQuaid play it safe and get as much help as possible to get off the ice.
“At that point, you just hope it’s not too much bravado,” Ference said. “But he is without a doubt a tough kid. No one is questioning his toughness. You’ve seen it all year. But when it happens you just hope he’s all right. That’s all we care about. We don’t care if he has 10 guys help him off as long as he’s all right.”
McQuaid was brought to Jefferson Hospital in Philadelphia for observation Monday night, but returned to Boston with the team. That was welcome news to his teammates, who hope that McQuaid will not be sidelined long. That was a sentiment shared even by the guy likely to replace McQuaid in the lineup in Game 3 on Wednesday.
“I’m a big fan of watching him play,” said veteran defenseman Shane Hnidy, who brings a similar physical style to the game. “I really like everything he does. I don’t want to compare him to me. He has some size and some other attributes, but overall his game has really come along. I’ve been really impressed and it’s tough to lose him because he’s really playing well. We’re just lucky his injuries aren’t severe. You kind of cringe whenever you see something like that, but he’s a tough kid and I’m sure he’ll be back, and my job is just to fill in until that point.”
