Perhaps the Boston Bruins should store away their remaining blueliners until they’re needed on opening day.
After all, they’re dropping at an alarming rate as Zdeno Chara left Thursday’s game due to an upper-body injury. The Boston Bruins confirmed that his night is done.
The exact nature or severity of his injury aren’t known yet and it’s certainly possible the Bruins decided to shut him down for precautionary reasons given the low-stakes nature of exhibition games, but this news is particularly troubling given its timing. Boston has already lost defenseman Dennis Seidenberg for eight weeks to a back injury and parted ways with blueliners Dougie Hamilton and Matt Bartkowski over the summer.
Forward Seth Griffith is also expected to miss three-to-four weeks with an MCL sprain.
To put this all in perspective, if Chara isn’t available for the season opener then Boston will be without its top three defensemen from the 2014-15 campaign in terms of minutes per game. That’s to say nothing of the fact that Boston would also be missing its captain in Chara.
In summary, these are troubling times for the Bruins.
Upper body injury for Chara. He won't return after logging 3 shifts and 1:57 of ice time in his first game of preseason. Ruh-Roh
— Joe Haggerty (@HackswithHaggs) September 24, 2015