Bruins Push Forward While Missing Many Key Players

Lately it seems like the Boston Bruins are slowly turning into Providence Bruins. The team is missing many key players, yet they seem to show no signs of difficulties.

Adam McQuaid is out for the second time this season, with the same/ similar injury. He is suffereing from a lower body groin/hip injury he sustained during a game with the Toronto Maple Leafs. He was out for a few games and then returned only to re-aggravate the injury, and is now back on the shelf.

Johnny Boychuk suffered what looked like a very serious injury when he was checked into the boards by Max Pacioretty. It was a very scary scene in Montreal, and luckily the only injury suffered was a sprain in Boychuk’s back. He is officially listed as out indefinitely, but Boychuk seems to be lucky here and should only be out a couple of weeks.

Chris Kelly broke his ankle on a slash from Pascal Dupuis of the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday night. He was placed on long term injury reserved (LTIR) and there is no date on when he will return.

During the same brutal game against the Penguins, Loui Eriksson had his head turned and got hit by Orpik. He fell to the ice and it was later announced he was out with another concussion. This concussion will be the second one in just five weeks for Eriksson. He is also out indefinetely.

Looking at some other bumps and bruises, we have Torey Krug who has been day-to-day but has played the past few games. The injury was undisclosed and he has missed some practice time, taking therapy days to recover.

There is also Kevan Miller who was called up from Providence Bruins and quickly received an illegal check from Dion Phaneuf on Sunday night and is out with a concussion. He will be re-evaluated before it is determined when he can get back into the lineup, but early indications are that it was a minor concussion and he won’t be out long.

While not an injury, we would be remiss if we did not mention that Shawn Thornton is not allowed to travel with the team or play in any games until he has his in-person hearing with Brendan Shanahan dealing with his attack on Brooks Orpik during Saturday’s game. The brutality sent Orpik to the hospital.

Now we all know that Marc Savard is on LTIR. He’s been out for a long-time due to post-concussion syndrome and will likely never play in the NHL again. The Bruins have moved on without him, and so we only mention him for completeness of this list, and not for a true look at the players the Bruins are making due without.

So with all these players out, it means that a few players from Providence will be called up. Jordan Caron will also get his chance to go back in the lineup. We should also expect to see Ryan Spooner (who was called up before Sunday’s game) and Matt Fraser (also called up) getting some playing time.

The Bruins have not yet called up any defensemen, however that is something to watch depending on the status of McQuade, Boychuk and Miller going forward.

All teams face the injury bug over the course of an NHL season, and it is up to the Bruins to pull together as a team and weather the storm and continue to pickup points while waiting for the reinforcements to arrive. It won’t be easy, but it could bring the team closer together as they work to battle through this adversity.

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