Marc Savard’s Name Will Be Engraved on Stanley Cup
The Cup will go back to Toronto on Tuesday, then it's on to Montreal, where the names of the 2010-11 champion Bruins will be engraved on it. And those names will indeed include injured center Marc Savard.
Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli confirmed at Monday's golf tournament that Savard will get his name on the Cup. The Bruins had to petition for his addition as Savard did not meet the qualifications of playing at least 41 regular-season games or one game in the Final to automatically be put on the Cup. Savard played just 25 games after returning in December from a severe concussion suffered the previous season, only to have his season cut short again by another concussion in January.
Rookie defenseman Steven Kampfer, who played 38 games in the regular season and did not dress for any postseason games, and veteran Shane Hnidy, who played three games in the regular season and three games in the first two rounds of the playoffs, are not expected to get their names engraved.
"Marc will be on the Cup," Chiarelli said. "The other guys, Steve and Shane, I'm not so sure yet, but Marc will be on the Cup."
Chiarelli said the final decision on Kampfer and Hnidy had not been made, but time was running out and it did not look good for their chances.
"[The decision]'s going to be soon, because they've got to take the Cup and get it engraved," Chiarelli said. "So it's got to be soon."
Indeed, the team's 100 days with the Cup are just about over, with all the players and staff having already enjoyed their days with the Cup.
"This is it, today we're done," said Hockey Hall of Fame curator Phil Pritchard, one of the famed Keepers of the Cup who travels with it as it is passed from player to player each summer. "We're going to get it engraved tomorrow, but then we're back at the end of the month. The guys will obviously celebrate their names being on it. They'll get their ring ceremony, the home opener. There's a few corporate things to look after, but it's winding down. The 2011-12 season is here."
That season will not include an appearance by Savard. Chiarelli confirmed on Monday that Savard will definitely not play this year, and the Bruins GM doesn't expect the star center to ever return as he continues to struggle with post-concussion symptoms.
"I've communicated with him, he's not in a good spot still," Chiarelli said. "He's still having recurring headaches. He still has recurring post-concussion stuff. I don't really have a progress report. I know I've said before that he's not playing this year, and frankly I don't think he'll play again. That's my opinion. That's my layperson's opinion. Obviously he has to be checked by the doctors, but with all the information I've been given, that's the way I feel."
It's little solace for having his career cut short, but at least Savard can take some comfort from knowing his name will forever adorn the Cup. All the Bruins will have their names engraved on it the next time the Cup returns to Boston before the banners are raised to the Garden rafters on opening night.
"The next time it's in Boston it will have their names on it," Pritchard said. "And hopefully they're all good and all spelled right and another part of hockey history will be in the making."
