It’s been a while since Bruins fans have seen John Moore in game action.
The Boston defenseman has been battling a shoulder injury since the springtime, and even had surgery to have it repaired following the Bruins’ Stanley Cup Final defeat in June. Now he’s back on the ice and practicing with his teammates, and could possibly make his 2019-20 debut as early as Thursday.
“It was a long recovery,” Moore noted, per the team. “You learn a lot about yourself, you learn a lot about who’s in your foxhole. I’m really happy that there’s a shining light at the end of the tunnel for me.”
But it was the support he received from his teammates that helped him get through the darker days of his recovery. A number of Bruins — including Charlie McAvoy, Matt Grzelcyk, Sean Kuraly, Torey Krug, Chris Wagner, former Bruin Noel Acciari and assistant equipment manager Matt Falconer — visited him while he recouped.
“Wags (Chris Wagner) barged through the door, my kids were going nuts. You can’t put it into words. You remember what a journey it was… that meant a lot to me,” Moore said with emotion in his voice.
And while it’s possible he could return to game action this week, head coach Bruce Cassidy wants to make sure Moore is fully prepared for his return.
“We want to make sure he got through a good practice today, a little more contact,” Cassidy told reporters Wednesday. “If he’s ready to go (on Thursday), then we’ll have to make a decision whether he goes in or not and then a subsequent roster decision will probably have to be made depending on how many we guys we use.”
