It’s safe to say in the past few seasons, the Boston Bruins haven’t exactly had the best injury luck. Heading into this season, they’ll be a few guys they hope can avoid the injury curse.
Granted, such poor luck with injuries has led to the breakthroughs of guys like Connor Clifton and Matt Grzelyck, but honestly I think the Boston Bruins fan base would prefer that they have a full-strength roster fit and healthy every night.
It’s certainly preferable to a newcomer joining up with a team that has found it’s groove and potentially upsetting the chemistry.
With only the St. Louis Blues experiencing an off-season as short as the Boston Bruins, recovery will have been hurried for all of the injured players that needed work following an unsuccessful Game 7.
Modern sports science certainly means that guys should be entering the season with a clean bill of health, but you must remember that the Boston Bruins have one of the higher average ages, at least among the core group, and thus niggles are likely there and have likely been there a long time by this point.
Players no longer quite have to play through the pain, so to speak; some do, ask Zdeno Chara! But they still are expected to suit up on occasions whereby an extra day or two might have a more positive effect.
Such is the competition in the modern-day NHL that dropping two points due to sitting a guy versus playing that same guy at ninety percent, could ultimately be the difference between making the playoffs and not.
There’s a few players in particular this season that will be hoping to stay healthy for the full campaign, each for slightly different reasons.