Marc Savard: No comeback 'in the foreseeable future'

• Savard has been out since a January 2011 hit
• He was crushed by a blindside hit from Matt Cooke in March 2010
• He's continuing to have symptoms

Boston Bruins center Marc Savard confirmed on Twitter what had been expected all along: The concussion that kept him out all of last season will keep him out much, much longer.

"For the fans that keep asking, there is no comeback in the foreseeable future," he wrote. "I miss the game. It has given me everything I have today."

Savard hasn't played since January 2011 since a seemingly innocent check by Colorado Avalanche defenseman Matt Hunwick ended his season.

The Bruins center had a series of concussions before that, most famously a blindside hit by Pittsburgh Penguins forward Matt Cooke in March 2010 that led to NHL reforms on hits to the head. He returned during the playoffs, suffered a recurrence of symptoms during the summer and didn't return to action until December.

Savard was playing his 25th game of that season when hit by Hunwick. Concussions tend to have a cumulative effect.

A check of Savard's Twitter feed showed that he was experiencing headaches during bad weather a little more than a week ago.

And the symptoms were continuing on Monday.

"I tried to work out today with my trainer," he tweeted. "I felt like crap, but I need to do it."

Because of his injury, Savard is getting paid his $6.5 million salary during the lockout while getting treated. The Bruins used the injury exception rule on Savard's contract last season to help them with some cap issues.

He's signed through 2016-07 in one of the league's so-called diveback contracts that are heavily front-loaded but contain low-salaried years at the end (in his case, two years of $525,000) to lower the cap hit. Though his deal was approved through a 2011 compromise with the union, the NHL is trying to make teams responsible for a player's cap hit (Savard's tops $4 million) even after he retires.

Though Savard is under contract, he gave little hope of being back on the ice. He included the hashtag #nochance while wrapping up Monday's series of tweets with this one:

"I do in fact hope there is still a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel to play but that rests on the doctors' shoulders so far."