Patrice Bergeron, David Backes miss practice, making both questionable for season opener
TY ANDERSON
Judging from Wednesday's practice at TD Garden, the Bruins could very well begin their season without three of their top talents on Thursday night.
With Torey Krug (jaw) skating on a de facto fourth defensive pairing with seventh defenseman Paul Postma, it was the absences that glared brighter than Krug’s red no-contact jersey (meaning he’s unlikely to play tomorrow), as both Patrice Bergeron (lower-body) and David Backes (illness) missed practice.
In the case of Backes, this was the Bruins simply telling him to stay away from the team to avoid spreading whatever sickness he may have. It's the same logic they've applied to forward Austin Czarnik, who missed the last few days of training camp and will begin his year on the big league club's injured reserve because of a nasty virus, too.
But Bergeron's issues go beyond a sickness, and the Black and Gold are doing their part to monitor what they can.
“Not much new; He’s day-to-day, didn’t skate today,” Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy said of Bergeron following the rare practice at the Garden. “We would rather him take the extra day [off], do whatever we can to get him ready for tomorrow, and if that means some time off today that’s fine. We’ll have a better idea in the morning, obviously.”
TY ANDERSON
Judging from Wednesday's practice at TD Garden, the Bruins could very well begin their season without three of their top talents on Thursday night.
With Torey Krug (jaw) skating on a de facto fourth defensive pairing with seventh defenseman Paul Postma, it was the absences that glared brighter than Krug’s red no-contact jersey (meaning he’s unlikely to play tomorrow), as both Patrice Bergeron (lower-body) and David Backes (illness) missed practice.
In the case of Backes, this was the Bruins simply telling him to stay away from the team to avoid spreading whatever sickness he may have. It's the same logic they've applied to forward Austin Czarnik, who missed the last few days of training camp and will begin his year on the big league club's injured reserve because of a nasty virus, too.
But Bergeron's issues go beyond a sickness, and the Black and Gold are doing their part to monitor what they can.
“Not much new; He’s day-to-day, didn’t skate today,” Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy said of Bergeron following the rare practice at the Garden. “We would rather him take the extra day [off], do whatever we can to get him ready for tomorrow, and if that means some time off today that’s fine. We’ll have a better idea in the morning, obviously.”