Sep 26, 2014; Washington, DC, USA; Boston Bruins center David Krejci (46) skates on the ice against the Boston Bruins at Verizon Center. Mandatory Credit: Amber Searls-USA TODAY Sports
David Krejci missed the first three games of the season due to an injury that was never disclosed that he suffered during preseason. He also missed practice on Friday, but Bruins fans were put at ease when Claude Julien reported that it was just a maintenance day for the center. The red flag popped up last night when the Bruins announced that Krejci would be a last minute scratch for an undisclosed injury.
“I thought he was going to play,” Bruins coach Claude Julien said. “He came in and decided, as a group decided, that he wasn’t well enough to go.”
Krejci was on the ice for the pre-game warm-ups, but later decided he wasn’t well enough to play. In the absence of Krejci the Bruins were able to shuffle things around, quickly turning to Matt Fraser and bumping Chris Kelly up with Lucic and Griffith. Previously Fraser had been a scratch for the Bruins last 8 consecutive games, but the forward showed promise last night as he netted a pair of goals against the Sens.
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However, despite the victory, Bruins fans are still wondering, what is really wrong with David Krejci? How serious is it? According to WEEI’s DJ Bean, a source reported to them that the injury Krejci sustained is a hip injury that he has been “battling with all season.”
“I thought he was going to play. He came in and decided, as a group decided, that he wasn’t well enough to go.”-Claude Julien
Given this information, we can draw the conclusion that the undisclosed injury at the beginning of the season and this undisclosed are in fact one in the same, a hip injury. A hip injury that he has been playing with and battling through pain. The concern with this injury and particular player is that Krejci already has to play against the top lines in the NHL, given the absence of key players in their line up, the physicality has been upped in recent games.
With the natural wear and tear on top line players, paired with a pre-existing injury, the Bruins are going to want to watch Krejci close and place him as day-to-day for the immediate future. They don’t want to risk the injury turning into something chronic that has Krejci missing more time from the Bruins lineup. With the multitude of injuries to the Bruins defense, if the injury to Krejci continues to sideline him, the Bruins could find themselves in an even deeper hole than they have already dug.
Through the first three games without Krejci in the line up, the Bruins went 1-2-0 on the season. With Krejci in the line up, they were able to make it to the .500 mark, but not much better. We can only hope that Matt Fraser is able to keep up the momentum and help bring the extra spark and boost of confidence the Bruins have needed, especially if Krejci is out for long lengths of time.