McAvoy, a 28-year-old defenseman, is an assistant captain for the Boston Bruins.
He was elbowed in the face by the Florida Panthers forward. Sandis Vilmanis Wednesday in the Bruins’ final game before the Olympic break after getting the puck in the face and missing 11 games earlier this season.
But McAvoy was one of four players who traveled to Milan before the rest of the team and attended the opening ceremony on Friday. He has 39 points (four goals, 35 assists) in 45 games this season.
“Well, we’re very relieved and it was worrying to watch,” Sullivan said. “Charlie plays very hard. He’s a fierce competitor, and he puts himself in harm’s way all the time for the good of his team, and I think that speaks volumes about his competitiveness and the courage that he plays with.
“He’s an elite defender and he’s willing to do whatever it takes to win, and I think that’s why he endures what he endures. He’s a physical player himself, but he takes a lot of hits to make plays, and he does it undeterred, and I think, to me, if you want to define toughness, it’s not just about what you inflict. It’s also your willingness to take hits. hits to make plays, and I think Charlie checks both of those boxes.”
Tkachuk, a 28-year-old forward, is an assistant captain for the Panthers.
Along with his brother Brady, he helped lead the Americans to the Four Nations and then helped Florida win the Stanley Cup for the second straight season. He underwent surgery to repair a torn adductor muscle and sports hernia on August 22 and did not return until January 19. He has eight points (three goals, five assists) in 10 games this season.
Will the Tkachuks play together again at the Olympics?
Sullivan declined to say but added: “They were great at the 4 Nations event. In many ways they were, I think, the catalyst that helped us become the team we were looking to become in this tournament in such a short period of time.”
The Americans didn’t reveal much beyond the captains on Sunday, including line combinations, defensive pairings or goalie plans. Their first workout consisted mostly of getting the blood pumping after a 7 1/2-hour charter flight from New York that took off Saturday night and landed Sunday morning.
They have three days until their opener against Latvia on Thursday (3 p.m. ET; Peacock, USA, CBC Gem, SN, CBC), the first of three preliminary round games.
“We have some time, yes,” Sullivan said. “We’ll see how it goes. As you know, if you watched, we didn’t practice defensive lines or combinations today. That was intentional.
“We have an idea of what we want to start with, and that will start to unfold here over the next few days.”
