It’s a given most years that by the end of the playoffs, at least a few players will be playing injured. The Boston Bruins’ run this year was no different, with the obvious headline being the broken jaw that team captain, Zdeno Chara played through.
Of course, Zdeno Chara was the headline Boston Bruins injury; the sheer will power and commitment he showed; faced with a liquid diet and with metal holding his jaw, which was fractured in multiple places, together – he still suited up and was more than willing to lay hits in the Bruins quest for Stanley Cup glory.
Kevan Miller missed much of the play-offs, managing to break the same knee cap twice in the calendar year, to go with his broken hand, fractured larynx and torn oblique; which all also occurred this season.
Fellow defenseman John Moore is set for surgery, suffering a broken humerus and separated shoulder with recovery time expected to be upwards of four months.
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We’re not even halfway done yet, either. And remember, these are all the injuries we learned about in the immediate aftermath of the Boston Bruins’ Stanley Cup Final loss in Game 7. We’re not even onto the additional revelations on the locker-room clean-out day.
Jake DeBrusk battled the ongoing symptoms of concussion after a hit in Game 2 of the first round that saw Nazem Kadri of the Toronto Maple Leafs suspended. Obviously, there’s a much bigger question here as to why DeBrusk was allowed to continue playing in light of concussion symptoms in the post-season, but that’s a much bigger discussion for another day.
Fourth liner, Noel Acciari broke his sternum is the series against the Columbus Blue Jackets, battling through two more series to play in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final.
Not to mention that the whole first line was playing injured; David Pastrnak re-injured his thumb, Brad Marchand actually did more damage than was let on when he went off clutching his wrist in the Boston Bruins’ team scrimmage between the Eastern Conference final and Stanley Cup Final.
Marchand was also suffering groin and oblique troubles, whilst Patrice Bergeron was also suffering from groin issues. Of course, Matt Grzelyck also copped a concussion on Oskar Sundqvist‘s suspension-worthy hit during the Final series.
Now, that injury list alone is enough to look at and shudder; that’s the injuries we had an inkling about or were told about in the immediacy.
Don Sweeney, the Boston Bruins General Manager, also announced further injury updates in his closing thoughts on this season. Zdeno Chara, for example, not only was dealing with a broken jaw but will this post-season undergo a procedure to clean up loose fragments within his elbow.
So not only was his jaw all smashed up, so was his elbow. How did that man still manage to make it out onto the ice and not only that, lay hits and have a relatively positive impact?
Joakim Nordstrom likely was using his skates to hold his foot together, with a fracture confirmed that’ll require plenty of rest this summer. Given the extra workload that reaching the Stanley Cup Final adds, I’m sure the feisty fourth-liner will be more than happy to obey doctors’ advice.
Finally, although not really a feature of the main roster, Anders Bjork, was also announced as being expected to be back up to fitness in time for training camp next season.
All in all, we’re talking near-on half the team that was iced in Game 7 was suffering from some sort of ongoing injury. The willingness of all those guys to put their bodies at risk just to get their name and the Boston Bruins’ name back on the Stanley Cup deserves absolute respect. Plain and simple.