Charlie Coyle is feeling much better entering this season thanks to offseason knee surgery.
But he's not using that as a crutch to explain his underperformance last campaign.
"Everyone's playing through something, so I'm not going to sit here and say 'I couldn't do this, I couldn't do that.' If you're out there playing, there are no excuses," Coyle said Monday morning. "You've got to get the job done and you've got to play well. ... If you're playing 100%, you're probably not playing well out there. Everyone's going through something, and you've just got to work and make it happen."
Not only was the scoring (six goals, 10 assists across 51 games) down, but the hallmarks of his game, like puck possession, didn't show off the way it typically does.
So, after years of pain, Coyle and his camp decided the best thing for him was to get the knee issue taken care of. Fortunately for Coyle and the Bruins, it was not the type of procedure that would set him back for extended time. Instead, after practicing on a limited basis the first week of training camp and taking things slower, Coyle is now a full participant as Week 2 gets going.
Coyle figures to center the second line with Taylor Hall on his left and Craig Smith to his right, but that is a role Jack Studnicka has been occupying early on. The 29-year-old centered a line with Nick Foligno and Cameron Hughes during Monday's skate.
