No rest for Bruins during Thanksgiving layoff: David Pastrnak skates with first line, Chara, Kelly making progress after injuries

November 28, 2014

by Dakota Antelman

During a time while many were out digging out from this week’s snowstorm or relaxing ahead of their holiday feasts, the Boston Bruins were hard at work at their Wilmington practice facility, the Ristuccia Arena.

This three day period without any games has given the Bruins a chance to step away from the drama and competition of the NHL season and address some of the internal issues that have plagued them for much of the year.

Among the biggest and most publicized of those issues has been the injury bug that has bitten the Bruins badly this season. Going into the break they had five players on the injury report with at least three out long term.  Names like Zdeno Chara, Adam McQuaid, Chris Kelly and David Krejci were all among those listed.

During the break however, considerable progress was made with milestones reached by several of those players.

Chara and fellow defender David Warsofsky were both skating for the first time since their injuries Tuesday morning. The next day, Kelly returned to practice and was seen running drills with the Bruins fourth line.

Kelly suffered an undisclosed injury last Friday vs Columbus and had been out of the spotlight since. When speaking to reporters on Wednesday however, he detailed the plan that the team training staff had set out for him. He spoke on the subject of how caution was an important quality in his rehab plan.

"I think we thought [it was] better to be on the cautious side of things," Kelly said. "It was exactly kind of how we thought it would be. And it felt good today [Wednesday], and we'll see how it feels again [on Thursday]."

Bruins fans and coaches alike were excited to see the returns of so many big names this week. But at the same time, Krejci, whose injury has still not been announced, was not present at any practices. Krejci, who might very well miss Friday’s game, has currently sat out three straight games. This recent absence comes during a stretch where Krejci has missed 9 of 11 games.

Bruins coach Claude Julian was non-descript in his discussing the terms of Krejci’s injury or his recovery plan.

“[we have to] Get the situation fixed so he's not in and out, in and out [of the lineup]," Julian said.

Beyond injuries, a myriad of transactions with AHL Providence saw rookie sensation Seth Griffith return to the team while Alex Kohoklachv and Jordan Caron were both sent back down. Among those who stayed with the Bruins, was first round draft pick David Pastrnak.

Pastrnak was promoted to the first line for Wednesday morning’s practice. He was seen skating alongside Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand.

Pastrnak made his NHL debut Monday vs. Pittsburgh skating 10 shifts for a total of 7 minutes and 53 seconds of ice time. He provided a presence in front of the net but did not manage to get a shot on goal.

The Bruins, who currently rank 20^th in the NHL in goals per game (2.5), are searching for a spark offensively and understand the need to put a flashy Pastrnak in a scenario where he can score. The first line, with Bergeron dishing out passes from the center position might very well be that perfect scenario.

"You try not to put him in a situation that may be too much, but at the same time, he's a good player, we know he's a good player - he showed that the other night, too," said Julien. "Offensively, he's a real good player, explosive, makes plays and he's pretty dynamic, and he'll only get better, so we need to continue to give him that opportunity to grow in the right environment."

Though experimenting with various positions in the lineup are definitely a positive for Pastrnak, with each new position comes a sort of acclamation period. The team is hoping Pastrnak can get into a grove on the first line as quickly as possible. 

The team's lack of scoring has definitely been noticed just as it has troubled team management.

“…The goal scoring, the offensive chances, the nature of the chances — getting better, but still has to get better,” GM Peter Chiarelli said. “I’m talking about heaviness on the puck, about competing, about not being stripped,” he said. “It’s a collective team thing.”

The Bruins understand that it takes goals to win hockey games. The Pastrnak move, as well as the Griffith call up, are both examples of the Bruins taking strides to give their team the best chance to get those goals.

Boston does currently hold a playoff spot; but with stalling goal scoring and nagging injuries, any number of teams currently breathing down their necks could very well come up and knock them out of that spot.

That is why nobody was resting within the Bruins organization this week. With the exception of a three hour Thanksgiving Day Dinner at Milan Lucic’s house, it was all work – top to bottom.

“I think what’s important with this group is that even with all of the injuries and everything, it can be easy to say we’re in a good spot right now,” said defensemen Torey Krug. “We’re happy with where we’re at, but we’re not a satisfied group, so I think that’s really important — especially when guys start to return. We’re a hungry group looking to move up in the standings, and that’s where that sits.”

Read More

Bruins blue liners target November returns: Zdeno Chara, Tory Krug have both been out since late October

November 8th, 2014
by Dakota Antelman

Bruins defensemen Tory Krug and Zdeno Chara have been absent from the Boston blue line for over a week now with various injuries.

Chara has missed seven games since he tore his PCL on October 23^rd but was reportedly in good spirits when he was made available to the media Tuesday. Chara claimed to be alright and despite wearing a brace on his knee said he had been able to keep up with upper body workouts during the week.

As for when he might return, Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli ‘conservatively’ estimated between four to six weeks from the date of the injury as being a possible time for Chara’s. In calendar dates that translates to a return anywhere between Thanksgiving weekend and the first week of December.

On Tuesday, Chara refused to detail any recovery plan or recalculated return day.

“I wish I could tell you guys exactly when I'm going to return," said Chara. "But as this point, it's really such a slow process, that who knows when the day is going to be."

The obvious good news that came out of Chara’s recent interactions with the media has been the reassurance that he still will likely not need surgery.

“It's always nice to be able to avoid surgery, so we'll see how it goes and obviously it was good news," he said.

The Bruins have been indecisive about Chara’s condition and what they tell the media about it. Understandably, his situation is fluid. Knee injuries like his, especially at his age have been known to take very long stretches of time to heal.

Krug’s injury however is much simpler from a medical standpoint. Krug was injured in an October 28^th game against the Wild when a hard slash broke his left pinky finger. He was seen with the finger immobilized for roughly a week after the injury before he was able to practice with the team Friday.

"It's doing well. It's coming along nicely, made some good progress the last couple days," Krug said. "And it's great to be back on the ice with my teammates, and competing and everything like that, so it's feeling better, that's for sure."  

He was seen in immense pain after the slash but was laughing it all off Friday evening.

"It's not a good feeling - obviously you could see my reaction on the ice, but it's alright. It's feeling good, feeling better and hopefully I'll be back soon,” he said.

One possible reason for his mirth might be the fact that he could very well be active for Monday’s game against the New Jersey Devils. What it will come down will be if the Bruins trainers felt confident enough in Krug’s recovery after Friday’s practice to let him play.

“…if he's given the OK by the medical staff, I'll be more than happy to put him in,” Bruins coach Claude Jullian said. “But I haven't been given the OK yet. I keep saying that - I don't anticipate anything until somebody tells me something."

If Krug does not manage to sneak into the lineup Saturday, it will actually be partially good because, as he detailed Friday, he is still struggling to get a good grip on his stick without a fully healed pinky.

“You never realize what big part your fingers play I guess, but it's just one of those things you have to get comfortable with moving on and taking those baby steps," Krug said.  

He said that most of Friday’s practice was just him trying to get his skating game back up to speed no matter when he returns.

"A couple of drills today, there was a lot more skating for the forwards and obviously being out for a week, they wanted me to get my skating legs underneath me," Krug said. "But yeah, maybe work on the hands a little bit more [too]."

The Bruins injury ridden defenders are working relentlessly to get back into game shape in the shortest time possible. The team needs that now more than ever as, not even one quarter of the way through the season, their players are suddenly getting bitten by the injury bug.

Beyond Chara and Krug, Warsofsky, Kevin Miller and center David Krejci are all battling injuries.

“Those injuries don’t always come at the greatest of times,” Julien said. “[But] we’ve just got to live with it, and adjust.”

Read More