The Bruins held their official breakup day at the TD Banknorth Garden this morning, after taking the weekend off to recover from their crushing OT defeat in game 7 on Thursday night. The biggest news to come out of the gathering was a lengthy list of major injuries that key players were laboring through during the regular season and playoffs.
* David Krejci was battling a hip injury all season. The young center managed to gut it out through all 82 regular season games (73pts) and all 11 playoff games. He is scheduled to have hip surgery next month and the expected recovery time is 4-6 months. A little rough math for you:
If Krejci were to have his surgery on the 1st of June, he'd be returning somewhere between October 1st and December 1st. The Bruins began their regular season on the 9th of October in 2008. By December 1st, they had already played in 24 games. So, if Krejci takes the full 6 months, he may not rejoin the team until 1/3 of the way into the season.
* Phil Kessel is set to have surgery for a torn rotator cuff and labrum in a few days. The injury was sustained in a game back in March against Columbus. Like Krejci, the surgery is expected to sideline the RW for 4-6 months. Undoubtedly the injury was reaggravated at some point during the playoffs, and a major hindrance for the speedy sniper.
* Mark Recchi had surgery to remove kidney stones prior to game 7 against Carolina, and Chuck Kobasew, Patrice Bergeron's other winger, was playing with two broken ribs. Some great stuff from Matt Kalman of TheBruinsBlog.net:
If you can believe it, doctors discovered Recchi had a kidney stone while examining the veteran Boston Bruins winger’s ribs the morning after Game 4 of the Carolina series. The night before Game 7 — 5 p.m. to be exact — Recchi actually had surgery to remove the stone.
“Obviously, I was pretty sore. I don’t know if anyone has ever had one of them, but I don’t wish it on my worst enemy,” Recchi said today during the Bruins’ year-end media availabilities. “But we all play through stuff and it’s really no big deal. The guys, at this time of year, everybody plays through a lot of things. So it just felt like I could still help and still play and I went out there and tried.”
Recchi, who also suffered a fractured rib against the Hurricanes, wasn’t the only injured winger on Patrice Bergeron’s line. Chuck Kobasew had suffered broken ribs in Game 1. He had to wear a flack jacket for the rest of the series.
“It wasn’t the most comfortable thing,” said Kobasew.
Oddly enough, Kobasew’s play actually improved as the series went on.
“It was tough for a couple games there. And being physical, I felt it every time I got hit or crosschecked. … The pain got a little better and I got more and more used to playing that way,” said Kobasew, who also had to have doctor’s freeze the injury before games to limit the pain.
Recchi’s play actually got better later in the series as well. But he had the stent removed the morning of Game 7 and had hardly had anything to eat or drink in the aftermath of the surgery. Even now, he’s still recovering.
“I don’t yet (feel 100 percent). It still feels like I have it in there, and that’s natural,” said Recchi. “I guess as it goes on, I still get like there’s an actual stone in there.”
* Andrew Ference, who missed the remainder of the regular season and all of the 1st round after suffering an injury on 4/4, revealed he will undergo groin surgery next month. He reaggravated the injury in game 3 against the Canes, absorbing a hit from Scott Walker which also damaged his pelvis in the process.
* Captain Zdeno Chara was playing through knee, groin and shoulder injuries, but will not require surgery.
* Marc Savard, as many suspected, injured his knee when he collided with Chad Larose in game 6. After game 7, I noticed Savard had the knee wrapped up and wasn't exactly walking around the locker room smoothly.
* Milan Lucic had a toe injury. Details and the severity of the injury have not been revealed.
Well that explains a lot now, doesn't it? The entire first line playing hurt, the 2nd leading scorer and the top goal scorer headed for major surgery, key blueliners banged up, veterans wearing flak jackets and undergoing surgery mid-series and never missing any time....it says a lot about the courage and the cojones that this team possesses.
Judging by the roster's resemblance to a MASH unit by season's end, it appears we were off base in assuming the Bruins didn't "want it" nearly as much as we thought they should.
Now we have to ponder what effect this has on Kessel, Krejci and their upcoming RFA statuses. Will this lower the negotiating price? Will the injuries scare off teams contemplating throwing an offer sheet out there to one of the young stars? Does the uncertainty of the time of their returns and their effectiveness while rounding into form make Peter Chiarelli think twice about trimming down the roster (cutting costs for a little more wiggle room under the cap)?
Chiarelli claims that negotiations will go on as planned and these injuries will have no effect on the Bruins' business this summer. I find that extremely hard to believe.
Something tells me these major surgeries will have significant implications on what route the B's plan on taking with their young, budding elite forwards. How could they not?
JC
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