Jake Sanderson stepped in to replace Charlie McAvoy for USA’s clash against Sweden. U.S. hockey fans were under the impression that Mike Sullivan was giving McAvoy a night off just like captain Auston Matthews. However, A Boston Globe report shortly after Team’s USA 2-1 loss to Sweden revealed things are far more serious than anyone could have imagined.

Bruins beat reporter and Boston Globe writer Jim McBride reported that “two sources familiar with the situation,” confirmed that McAvoy is currently in the hospital. McBride’s post on X garnered surprise and concern from hockey fans. “Uh yeah, never good. Praying it’s not serious as he’s had a heart issue in the past,” commented one fan.

The fan referenced Charlie McAvoy’s heart health struggles in 2018. As per SB Nation, then Bruins’ team doctor Dr. David Finn explained that McAvyc had been diagnosed with supraventricular tachycardia (SVT) after experiencing heart palpitations during a match. Despite not being life-threatening, he underwent a procedure to treat abnormal heart rhythm, because of a chance of reoccurrence.

However, if coach Mike Sullivan is to be believed, then his son-in-law is not suffering from the SVT symptoms. “Charlie obviously is now he’s out with an upper-body injury. Austin was more banged up or nicked up I should say,” said Sullivan according to the Boston Herald. However, the coach didn’t elaborate further, saying he’ll learn more about them a day.

“We’ll probably have more information [Tuesday] with those guys,” added Team USA’s coach. However, the news of the player getting hospitalized has raised some serious concerns among fans. Even more worrying is the fact that Charlie McAvoy has also the list of Team USA players whose situation remains uncertain ahead of Thursday’s final. Naturally, speculation is running wild.

The Charlie McAvoy situation leads fans to ask even more questions

As per Jim McBride, McAvoy was admitted to Mass. General Hospital as Team USA was trying and failing to catch up to Sweden. The news and Coach Sullivan’s admission left fans in the dark who thought the 27-year-old was simply resting ahead of the final. “Woah, this seems much worse than we thought,” a shocked user commented on McBride’s post.

Another fan expressed similar shock and concern. “Hope he’s okay. Yikes!” wrote the fan after learning of Charlie McAvoy’s condition. However, Coach Mike Sullivan simply stating that the defenseman was suffering from an upper-body injury didn’t shed any light on the situation. However, besides his past heart problems, McAvoy has also suffered shoulder problems.

He even underwent surgery in 2022, but it’s unclear if the NHL player’s current injury is also related to his shoulder without clarification. How not all fans were satisfied with simply showing concern. “Wtf happened and why wasn’t he admitted 2 days ago?” asked one fan citing the fact that the player didn’t seem to be suffering from injuries before the clash with Sweden.

The fact that Charlie McAvoy is now the fifth player on the injured list also didn’t escape the fans. Coach Sullivan also decided to keep Matthew Tkachuk, and Auston Matthews as a precautionary measure. However, Brady Tkachuk was added to that list after crashing into the post during the match with Sweden. So fans put the onus on Team Canada.

With so many star players currently sidelined, one fan thought it would be easy for Canada to win. “No McAvoy, no Quinn, injured Tkachuks and Matthews. Embarrassing if Canada loses this cupcake game,” commented the fan. However, despite the speculation, only time will reveal what happened to Charlie McAvoy and whether he’ll play in the final on February 20.