Marchand, Bjork stay home
Injured wingers won’t hit road
Injuries have been the chief story of the Bruins season thus far, and that apparently will not change anytime soon.
B’s wingers Brad Marchand and Anders Bjork missed practice yesterday, and neither accompanied the team on its afternoon charter to California.
The Bruins play in Anaheim tomorrow night, Los Angeles on Thursday and San Jose Saturday. The availability of Marchand and Bjork for any games on the trip is very much in question, though the B’s hope that one or both can join the team on the road.
“(Marchand) and Bjork got nicked up the other day,” said Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy. “They both got hit. They won’t travel with the team and then we’ll see where it leads from there.”
At the other end of the bad news/good news spectrum, center David Krejci, out 10 games with a suspected back ailment, continues to progress. He will make the trip and intends to play at some point.
“Krejci is traveling,” said Cassidy. “I guess now he’s called more day-today than week-to-week. So we’ll see where he’s at with a good team practice (today in Anaheim), and then we’ll have a better idea whether (tomorrow) is possible.”
Because of all the seasonlong roster absences and uncertainty, the B’s coach will not put much credence in the accepted wisdom about the NHL standings and Thanksgiving: That something like 77 percent of the time, the teams in playoff positions on Turkey Day will still be there at season’s end.
Barring a highly unlikely West Coast sweep, the B’s will not be in a playoff position next Thursday.
“We’re aware of the stats or the data with that,” said Cassidy. “We want to be mindful of that, but it can’t run the show, so to speak. As a group, the message has to be we’ve got to stick with the process. If you trust the process and play the right way, then we believe we’ll get enough points. It might not be by Nov. 24. That’s just the way we feel.
“Given the amount of adversity we’ve dealt with, I think we’re going to have to say the Thanksgiving thing goes. We don’t even know what our true team looks like. So I don’t think it’s fair to use that benchmark.”
As he has in all of his recent skates, Krejci wore a maroon no-contact jersey yesterday. He hopes to don a regular practice sweater and be a full participant today, taking some contact to show whether he’s ready to play.
“The last three times on the ice it feels pretty good,” he said, noting how difficult it is to discuss injuries given the team’s secretive policy on such matters.
Asked whether his recovery proved shorter or longer than anticipated, he said, “You know what? It’s really hard for me to say whether it’s early or late, because you know the drill. We can’t really say what the injury is. I’m going to go on the trip with the guys, hopefully have another good day and then go from there. Hopefully I can wear a (regular) jersey and do a little bit more battling
“Obviously I would love to play the next game, but I can’t really guarantee anything. But I am planning to play at some point on this trip.”
The Bruins called up forwards Kenny Agostino and Peter Cehlarik from Providence on an emergency basis. It’s been a tough juggling act for Cassidy with uncertainty about the availability of at least three banged up players, and the need to do 11th-hour reshuffling of the lines.
“(There are) a lot of ifs,” said Cassidy. “So I think what we’re going to try to do is see what we have (tomorrow) morning.”
Whoever Cassidy ends up writing into his lineup, the Bruins have to continue with the same fine effort of recent games, and cut out the mistakes and missed opportunities.
“The message going forward is to play well and play hard,” said the coach. “Control what you can control: Effort and execution. In terms of our effort, I think it’s been very good. Our execution has come and gone.”