(Photo by Ted Fitzgerald/Boston Herald)
by Dakota Antelman
Bruins defensemen, Adam McQuaid, who has not played since he broke his thumb on Tuesday, November 18, could be nearing his return.
The Bruin blueliner had neither practiced nor even spoken to reporters since the injury. His thumb, was broken on a blocked shot gone awry vs. the Blues. It had kept him out of the lineup and effectively separate from the team for over a month and a half.
McQuaid had sat on the IR list and in turn the Bruins press box for weeks as he hoped physical therapy and time would get him back to hockey.
This week though he was given the “okay” to practice by doctors. Though he and his coaches were still cautious in their use of him in battling and other rough drills, he was back around the team and busy working on getting his skating legs underneath him.
“I felt pretty good out there today,” said McQuaid after Friday’s practice in Wilmington. “The shot is coming along better, getting the feel for the puck, and just getting into the flow of things. It’s definitely close. Every day there’s been pretty significant improvement.”
Despite the more laid out injury timetable that a broken bone gives a player, McQuaid has been waiting to get back to practice for a while and acknowledges being angry at the prolonged rehab process.
“We’ll have a talk with the trainers, and we’ll go from there. Originally I didn’t think it was going to be this long, but I found out afterwards that it would be, and that was disappointing," he said "But you play the hand that’s dealt with you, and the good thing is that I was able to keep skating.”
According to Joe Haggerty of Comcast Sports Net New England, Friday was deemed a ‘full contact practice’ for McQuaid. The consistent peeling away of restrictions put on McQuaid suggests an impending return to game action.
Bruins coach, Claude Julian however was tight lipped on the subject saying simply, “We’ll know more later on.”
Boston is set to take on the Ottawa Senators at 1pm Saturday in Boston. McQuaid is a possibility for that game but with little news breaking overnight and on Saturday morning, there seems to be an equal possibility that he will sit.
If that is the case fans could see him back either Sunday in Carolina or later in the week in the team’s games against the Penguins or Devils.
Whenever McQuaid returns he will bring his patented brand of reckless physical play in his own zone and on ice versatility back to a team in dire need of it.
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