Ever since Brad Marchand underwent double hip surgery in May, it always was believed he'd be sidelined for at least six months.
That wasn't the case, though, as Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery made a surprise announcement Thursday that Marchand would be in Boston's lineup for its game against the Detroit Red Wings at TD Garden.
Just Wednesday, Montgomery said Marchand was "ahead of schedule" and was hopeful he'd play in the next 10-14 days, adding he was "begging doctors every day" to get him back into the lineup. Little did fans know they wouldn't need to wait about two more weeks to see No. 63 back on the ice.
"I was a little coy (Wednesday) because we didn't wanna get ahead of ourselves," Montgomery told reporters at Warrior Ice Arena. "We wanted to see how he responded to a good, hard practice (Wednesday). ... I know myself, as a coach, I'm excited to coach him and see the energy and the work ethic he's gonna bring to the Bruins (Thursday)."
It seems almost unfathomable that Marchand is about five weeks ahead of his original recovery timeline, but it was known all along for those in the Bruins organization.
"All along we have our own internal timelines," Montgomery told reporters, "and they're ahead of where they were because of terrific work by our medical staff, and you gotta give Marchy a lot of credit with how hard he's pursued his rehab."
For Marchand, he knew right away he was going to come back sooner than Thanksgiving.
"As soon as it came up that I was gonna have surgery, they told me it was going to be end of November," Marchand told reporters. "I was like, 'It's not going to be the end of November. We're gonna see what we can do.
"We had this date circled on the calendar months ago. We obviously wanted to keep it kinda close, and there were a lot of different variables about things that could've happened or how I was going to feel so we weren't sure. But we kinda checked the box all along with each step with took and progression."
Marchand underwent major surgery on both of his hips, so there obviously is concern if he's coming back too soon or if he's 100% ready.
"Everybody's comfortable. We were just checking all the boxes," Montgomery told reporters. "This was the earliest that everybody was comfortable -- except for Brad Marchand -- coming back. He wanted to play earlier, but we're really confident that everything is gonna go well for him as a player."
Montgomery added he'd ideally like to limit Marchand to 16 to 17 minutes but will go off of "the flow of the game." He also will not play in back-to-back games.
The Bruins and Red Wings drop the puck at TD Garden on Thursday night at 7 p.m. ET. You can catch all the action beginning at 6 p.m. on NESN.
