Team USA is without one of their top defenseman in Charlie McAvoy on Thursday night as they take on Team Canada in the NHL's 4 Nations Face-Off championship.
The Boston Bruins defenseman suffered an upper-body injury during round-robin play of the tournament and—upon further evaluation—was hospitalized due to an infection in his right shoulder.
The Bruins announced on Wednesday that McAvoy's condition was improving and on Thursday afternoon, the 27-year-old posted on his Instagram story that he had been released from Mass. General Hospital. He celebrated by rocking out to Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Free Bird".
McAvoy almost immediately made his way to Boston's TD Garden and found himself in Team USA's dressing room just in time to announce their starting lineups. Take a look at the emotional video shared by ESPN:
After being released from the hospital earlier today, USA's Charlie McAvoy read the starting lines ❤️
— ESPN (@espn) February 21, 2025
McAvoy suffered an injury to his right shoulder earlier in the 4 Nations tournament.
📺 ESPN/ESPN+/Disney+ pic.twitter.com/LUCCQbXatc
What a moment.
After an electric pre-game ceremony and some back-and-forth first period play, Team USA leads Team Canada 2–1 midway through the second period in the 4 Nations Face-Off championship.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Charlie McAvoy Gives Emotional Team USA Lineup Announcement Hours After Leaving Hospital.
