BostonBruins.com -- This summer, in contrast to his teammates, there is a certain amount of melancholy to Boston Bruins forward Marco Sturm's voice.

Boston Bruins Marco Sturm (16) of Germany passes under pressure from Buffalo Sabres' Paul Gaustad (28) in front of Sabres goalie Ryan Miller during the second period of a first-round NHL playoff hockey game in Buffalo, N.Y., Friday, April 23, 2010. (AP Photo/ David Duprey)

2 World Junior Championships (1995, 1996)

4 Olympic Games for Germany (1998, 2002, 2006 and 2010)

6'0 height

12 NHL Seasons

16 number with Boston

21st overall pick in 1996 NHL Entry Draft (Sharks)

31 years old

194 pounds

232 NHL assists

234 NHL goals

466 NHL points

855 NHL regular season games

1999 NHL All-Star Game

2004 World Cup

2005 Traded to Bruins ." -Sturm by the Numbers



It's (very) understandable as the forward suffered a severe knee injury during the 2010 playoffs and has spent the offseason nursing his injured leg back to health.Obviously, working through his injury has kept the winger busy, but hasn't made for a fun or memorable vacation, either.Neither has the prospect of waiting until November to rejoin his teammates on NHL ice."I'm doing good," Marco said with a certain conviction when I spoke to him via phone."I came [to Boston] for a week for a checkup up see the doctors and I’m doing my usual rehab here...but everything looks really, really good and right on time."I'm really glad, too," added Sturm. "So I'm just going to go home [to Germany] and come back ready to go to my next rehab."Now fighting through his second such injury, Sturm said he has learned to trust his doctors and is working methodically through his rehab."You know, I had some ups-and-downs in the last few weeks and I think that was one of the reasons I came [back to Boston] to see them," said Sturm. "After that, I feel a lot better and more comfortable."For me, they’re very important...[and] I'm glad to have them and I'm just going to trust them."But everything looks pretty good."Beyond the continued progress, Sturm said that his teammates are an important part of the healing process, as well."Oh, definitely," said Sturm. "I think the last two years, I would say the whole organization [really came] together and it starts with the team, the players, and it finishes up with the guys in the office and the fans, too."I think the Bruins are on the right [track], especially now with some good young players and I think we could look pretty good in the future."Those young players will need to look pretty good in the very near future, as they will stem the tide for the B's as Sturm recovers."Yeah, I mean it’s obviously a challenge for them," said Sturm of a player's rookie season. "But on the other side, I think that was one of my best years, my first year, because everything was new and everyone helped you out."I think that’s what your teammates are for - to support you."During the call, Sturm mentioned the support of Bruins faithful. The German-born forward said that the fans in Boston have also furnished fuel for his recovery."I just love the game and I love to score and I get sometimes too excited, but I love when the crowd gets [to see] a goal and there’s no better feeling than to get the crowd going," he said. "Hopefully, they feel like that, too."I'm definitely ready and I'm going to work hard and it’s a big deal for me too."So I’ll try to come back, ready to go, hopefully for a good Boston Bruins season."A trip back to Europe and a possible trip to Austria will punctuate what has been a structured summer for Sturm."I'm going back to Germany for probably four or five weeks, then coming back here to hopefully start skating sometime in September by myself and hopefully November will be the [time] to come back," said Marco, who added that he couldn't wait to return to Boston for the season."I love the restaurants," said Sturm of Boston. "I've been here four or five years now and there are still restaurants I want to go to but didn’t have the chance."There's always something new in Boston," he said. "I love the city."