Boston Bruins will update Johnny Boychuk’s condition today.
Oct 26, 2013; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Bruins defenseman Johnny Boychuk (55) reacts to the official after getting called for a penalty during the first period against the New Jersey Devils at TD Banknorth Garden. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports
Claude Julien will have an update for everyone on the results of the MRI that was performed on Johnny Boychuk yesterday. The MRI was deemed necessary due to the awkward nature of the hit Boychuk took from Max Paccioretty in the game against the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday. The Bruins lost that game to the Habs 2-1. Coach Julien is expected to address Boychuk’s injury sometime after the Bruins morning skate today.
“You never like to see a stretcher come out, but I got some information on the bench that it was his back and it was basically locked up and they thought it was part of that.” said Julien yesterday. “At the same time, and I’m just being honest, I looked at the hit and looked it over and the hit doesn’t indicate the severity of the injury. Sometimes it’s more about how you go into the boards and maybe a little bit of an awkward position and again, if you’re going to preach for one side you have to be honest and preach on the other side too and say that it was a two-minute penalty; and I said that last night.”
“That’s all it was – an unfortunate injury. But at the same time, if we start complaining about every little thing, we might as well take the hitting out of our game. So I think more than anything else, it was the awkwardness of how he went into the boards.”
Boychuk has not be put on injured reserve, and preliminary tests have determined it is a back rather than a head injury. That’s already great news for him, the Bruins and all their fans.
In the end, Coach Julien doesn’t think it’s a hit that requires any supplemental discipline. That’s fair I guess. I wonder what the opinion of Montreal’s Michel Therrien would have been if it had been Pacioretty put into the boards by Boychuk. The Montreal emergency dispatch would likely still be handling the 9-1-1 calls from Canadiens’ fans that’s for sure.