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Marc Savard will miss the rest of the season after he was placed on long-term injured reserve on Monday with his second concussion in less than a year.
''I have a lot of feelings going on. I think I'm frustrated, mostly,'' he said. ''It's tough to understand why this happened. It will take time and patience, those two things I don't feel like I have much of.''
Savard was injured in the Bruins' Jan. 22 game against Colorado, when he was checked into the end boards' glass by former teammate Matt Hunwick. Savard also sustained a concussion against Pittsburgh on March 7, 2010. He did not return until the second round of the playoffs and missed the first 23 games of this season.
Bruins doctor Peter Asnis said it's not clear what effect the previous concussion had on this injury.
''As far as this hit goes, he sustained a concussion, and he likely would have whether or not he sustained a concussion last year,'' Asnis said. ''Certainly we worry about players who have multiple concussions, going forward.''
Savard has two goals and eight assists in 25 games, and 207 goals and 499 assists in a 13-year career that also includes stops with the New York Rangers, Calgary Flames and Atlanta Thrashers. He signed with Boston as a free agent in 2006 and was re-signed in 2009 to a seven-year extension that takes him through the 2016-17 season.
Savard said it was too early to decide whether he will be able to return.
''I'm not going to make any decision about my future until I get some more medical stuff done. I've just got to be patient going forward,'' he said. ''My agent talked to me a lot, and he gave me time to think about a lot of things. It's going to be tough, especially watching them play.''
Savard's first concussion was the result of a check by Penguins forward Matt Cooke that led the NHL to outlaw blindside hits to the head. Savard missed the last 18 games of the regular season but returned for Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals against Philadelphia.
Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli said the blindside hit rule has helped, but he also thought the league should look at other ways to keep players safe, like making the pads softer.
''I think we have to be careful with the integrity of the game,'' he said. ''But I do think we have to look at that.''
The Bruins are more familiar than most with the effects of concussions. In 2008, forward Patrice Bergeron went out with a concussion and did not return for almost a full year.
Savard described many of the same symptoms as Bergeron: The way he is sleepy all the time, and how things seem to move slower.
''Sometimes you just have situations where you just don't feel right,'' Savard said. ''It's just an uncomfortable state. People see you on the outside and you just look normal. You don't have a cast on or anything like that. But it's tough on the inside.''
Savard scored the winner in overtime on his first night back in the playoffs last year. But he did little in the rest of the series and was a contributor to a crucial too-many-men-on-the-ice penalty late in Game 7 that led the series-winning goal as Philadelphia overcame a 3-0 deficit to eliminate the Bruins.
Over the offseason, his post-concussion syndrome returned - including a bout with depression - and he missed 23 more games at the start of 2010-11. When he did play, he did not appear to be the same playmaker who led Boston in scoring in his only three healthy seasons with the team.
Also Monday, the Bruins recalled forward Jordan Caron from Providence of the AHL. Caron has appeared in 20 NHL games this season for Boston, scoring three goals with four assists.
Chiarelli said he will be have to be more active as the trade deadline approaches.
''We're not going to be able to replace Marc,'' Chiarelli said. ''So we're going to have to be a little more diligent.''
The Bruins play Montreal in Boston on Wednesday.
