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Boston Bruins: Will Zdeno Chara Be Ready For Opening Night?

By Andrew Thompson

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In five days, the Boston Bruins will have to submit their starting roster to the NHL. The Bruins are down to the last few choices for forwards and goaltenders. The biggest question for the Black and Gold is how the blueline will look on opening night. The B’s are waiting (and hoping) to see if Bruins captain and defenseman Zdeno Chara will be ready to go on opening night.

“We first have to evaluate where Zee comes back into this group,” said Don Sweeney of the roster. “We haven’t had that advantage with the few minutes he was able to play. [It’s been] positive news on Dennis so far – it’s early in the recovery process, surgery was a success, that’s exciting to see where he fits in going forward in terms of what we thought about for the first part of the year.”

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The B’s general manager is holding out hope that Chara will be one-hundred percent for the Bruins season opener next Thursday. The Bruins captain has been working with Strength and Conditioning Coach John Whitesides, and is already back on the ice. He could be returning to practice any day now.

“We’re afforded the opportunity to give him some time to get to whatever level he’s capable of getting to,” said Sweeney of Chara. “Make a decision on whether or not that’s where we need to be on opening day and him being a part of it. That’s what we’re planning on. I don’t know what rating or percentage that is as I stand today, but again, clearly I’m hopeful or wishful that [the injury] didn’t happen at all.”

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    • “It’s not things you want to be thinking about, going through training camp, but it happens, and each team has their challenges, whether they come now or come throughout the year, they’re going to be faced with them.”

    The Bruins defensemen have been the sore spot during the preseason. Players like Adam McQuaid and Torey Krug have been asked to step up, and that led to mixed results. Chara is also hoping that he’ll be able to play on opening night. The Bruins have had enough troubles with their defensemen already. Dennis Seidenberg will be out until November at least, and the Bruins could use their captain’s veteran presence on the ice.

    “Today was better than it was yesterday,” said Chara after skating before the B’s practice yesterday. “I’m hoping that tomorrow is better than today, and then tomorrow, I’m hoping I’ll be better again, so really, if it keeps improving, we’ll see where it’s going to be next week, but as of right now, trying to obviously skate on my own and be in a situation where I can jump in with the team.”

    Next: Jeremy Jacobs Talks NHL Expansion(Guess who wants more hockey in the desert?)

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