Montgomery On Hall Injury: ‘What I’m Finding Out Is How Tough He Is’

Since Boston Bruins winger Taylor Hall left a game with an upper-body injury after two periods last Saturday, his status has gone from minor to week-to-week, and now potentially day-to-day.

Hall, along with injured Boston Bruins defenseman Matt Grzelcyk (shoulder), were skating in yellow (non-contact), jerseys with their teammates at practice Thursday. After practice, Boston Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery explained that both are ahead of schedule and also credited Hall for his second change of course to recovery this week.

“What I’m finding out is how tough he is, and I guess his pain tolerance is really high,” Montgomery said of Taylor Hall and his efforts to bounce back from whatever is actually ailing him. “He’s pushing it. He doesn’t want it to be week-to-week. We’re just monitoring it right now…there’s a little bit of hope that he can be back sooner than week-to-week.”

The same could be said about Grzelcyk too as his timetable for a return to game action has apparently accelerated. After undergoing shoulder surgery on June 3, Matt Grzelcyk originally expected to be out of the lineup until mid-November. Last month though, the Charlestown, MA native said he was starting to think he could be back by early November.

“I think beginning of November,” said Grzelcyk, who originally injured his shoulder on Jan. 22. “Things have been looking really good. They said five months when I first had [the surgery] so you obviously shoot for that. I’m happy to feel a little bit more like myself. I still have a little way to go, but the light is there at the end of the tunnel.”

On Monday, Montgomery said Grzelcyk was ‘slightly ahead of schedule’ and on Thursday the news on Grzelcyk was still positive.

“I don’t have official timelines for either,” Montgomery said. “The yellow jerseys are they’re not supposed to be hit so there’s no contact involved. Grzelcyk is gonna go into a regular jersey real quick, which is good. He’s ahead of schedule.”