Injury Update...
K, here in the Hub's house of sports horrors, we have those certain colloquialisms that make us, uh, reach for the family-sized 1,000-count jug of nitroglycerin pills.
Such as:
Too many men on the ice.
A slow roller to Buckner at first.
John Y. Brown today bought ...
''Hello, I'm Victor Kiam.''
Charley horse.
No one around the Bruins dressing room is suggesting Bill Guerin's banged-up left thigh in any way, shape, or form resembles the ugly injury that started the finish of Cam Neely's career. Charley horses come and go in every sport, without turning into the ossified mess that came Neely's way compliments of Ulf Samuelsson.
But everyone in, on, and around Causeway Street knows that it's best to live to play another day when it comes to the Bruins and those nagging, oft-painful contusions that boil deep inside leg muscles. Banged up during Thursday's game in Washington, Guerin sat out Saturday night's game here vs. the Flyers before finally getting back on skates late yesterday morning.
''Unless something crazy happens,'' an optimistic Guerin said following the workout, ''I see myself in there [tonight]. It doesn't seem like it's anything serious, just a small charley horse that got aggravated, that's all, and the swelling has to stay down.''
So, take a collective sigh out there in Bruins Country. Guerin, who was 7-1-8 in the seven games before the Washington game, should be back in the puck-lugging business by 7 p.m. when the Thrashers invade the Vault.
Reminded that, in some cases, the treatment for charley horses can be a minor operation that drains the pool of stale blood, Guerin's eyes widened. ''I hope not,'' he said. ''Heck, that would be a blood-letting, and I'm not up for that, thanks.''
Nyet on Samsonov return
Sergei Samsonov finally got back on skates before the morning workout, was pleased that he could dipsy-doodle a little, but doesn't figure he'll be ready to play any sooner than Thursday night when the Canadiens come to town. His wrenched right knee needs more time to heal.
''It felt a lot better than it did last week,'' said the highly-skilled left wing, whose absence makes a severe dent in Boston's attack. ''It felt pretty good, but we didn't push it too hard.''
It will be Samsonov's fifth straight game in the press box. He hoped only to miss one or two games initially, but two prior attempts to skate found the knee too painful to test in game conditions.
''The MRI showed that it's only swelling in there, nothing too serious,'' said Samsonov, who exited with 10 goals and 29 points in 27 games - now second only to Joe Thornton's 30 points. ''They tell me these things can take two weeks, and I'm a little over that now, so I guess you could say I'm a little frustrated.''
Upon his return, Samsonov figures he may try to play with a derotation brace around the knee. Many players, even those who've never been injured (about 0.635 percent of the NHL rank-and-file), often wear the braces as a precaution.
''I'm definitely going to consider it,'' he said.
Meanwhile, Samsonov remains eager for a phone call this week. The Russian Olympic team must declare its full Salt Lake roster before the weekend is out, and the magical Muscovite dearly would like to suit up for Mother Russia.
''I haven't heard anything,'' he said. ''There's, what, five days left? I assume they have the team picked out already, but I haven't heard a word.''
New Jersey assistant coach Slava Fetisov, who also is GM-coach of the Russian squad, told Samsonov approximately three weeks ago that he had a strong chance of going to Olympus.
Good news for Hugheses
The Bruins had their annual family Christmas skate at the Fleet, and no one had wider smiles on the ice than assistant coach Jim Hughes and his wife, Ellen.
Immediately following Saturday night's game, Hughes got a call, notifying him that his toddler, Quintin, couldn't flex his right arm after taking a nasty fall at home.
''Funny, but you leave here after a loss, and that's all you can think about - the game, the game, the game,'' said the 34-year-old Hughes, a former Providence College standout. ''Then you get a call like that and, just like that, your whole focus changes.''
The Hughes family spent a few hours Saturday night at Holy Family Hospital in Methuen, where X-rays didn't show a fracture. Quintin, 26 months old, broke the arm seven months ago when he fell out of his crib. But for reasons no one could figure, the little guy couldn't move the arm Saturday. Sunday morning, the Hugheses reported to Children's Hospital in the Hub for another diagnosis.
''It turned out,'' said a happy dad, ''that it was nothing more than a dislocated elbow. The doctors there moved his arm around, the joint went back in place, and everything was fine. It was great. For us, we were so relieved, it was like a small miracle.''
MRI for ailing Axelsson
Wing P.J. Axelsson (0-4-4 over the last six games) didn't participate in the morning workout, his right shoulder banged and bruised from a fall in the loss to the Flyers. Following the family skate, he headed for an MRI exam. ''Tendinitis,'' said the ever-smiling Swede. ''That's a big word for me.'' ... Guerin on Dany Heatley and Ilya Kovalchuk, the Thrashers' standout rookie forwards: ''They're two of the brightest young stars in the league, and they're sticking with 'em.'' ... General manager Mike O'Connell said he agreed with coach Robbie Ftorek that this could be a good time to call up a body or two from the club's Providence (AHL) affiliate. How soon? ''Well, we'll see,'' said O'Connell. ''We've got this game [tonight] and we'll see how people are playing, and with Axelsson hurting, who knows what we might do.'' ... Ftorek did not agree with the assessment here that free agent pickup Martin Lapointe has seen his game slip some over the last 3-4 weeks. ''There is a lot more to the game than [point] production,'' said Ftorek, obviously aware that Lapointe has 1-2-3 totals in his last 10 games. ''There's hits, board work, going to the net. He's doing the job going to the net. Our last couple of power-play goals, he's provided the subtleties out there that we want from him. My marks on Marty have been straightforward the whole way. I haven't been disappointed at all.'' Lapointe has 18 points after 32 games, a projection of 46 points over a full season, which would be a drop of some 20 percent off his career-high of 57 last year in Detroit.
K, here in the Hub's house of sports horrors, we have those certain colloquialisms that make us, uh, reach for the family-sized 1,000-count jug of nitroglycerin pills.
Such as:
Too many men on the ice.
A slow roller to Buckner at first.
John Y. Brown today bought ...
''Hello, I'm Victor Kiam.''
Charley horse.
No one around the Bruins dressing room is suggesting Bill Guerin's banged-up left thigh in any way, shape, or form resembles the ugly injury that started the finish of Cam Neely's career. Charley horses come and go in every sport, without turning into the ossified mess that came Neely's way compliments of Ulf Samuelsson.
But everyone in, on, and around Causeway Street knows that it's best to live to play another day when it comes to the Bruins and those nagging, oft-painful contusions that boil deep inside leg muscles. Banged up during Thursday's game in Washington, Guerin sat out Saturday night's game here vs. the Flyers before finally getting back on skates late yesterday morning.
''Unless something crazy happens,'' an optimistic Guerin said following the workout, ''I see myself in there [tonight]. It doesn't seem like it's anything serious, just a small charley horse that got aggravated, that's all, and the swelling has to stay down.''
So, take a collective sigh out there in Bruins Country. Guerin, who was 7-1-8 in the seven games before the Washington game, should be back in the puck-lugging business by 7 p.m. when the Thrashers invade the Vault.
Reminded that, in some cases, the treatment for charley horses can be a minor operation that drains the pool of stale blood, Guerin's eyes widened. ''I hope not,'' he said. ''Heck, that would be a blood-letting, and I'm not up for that, thanks.''
Nyet on Samsonov return
Sergei Samsonov finally got back on skates before the morning workout, was pleased that he could dipsy-doodle a little, but doesn't figure he'll be ready to play any sooner than Thursday night when the Canadiens come to town. His wrenched right knee needs more time to heal.
''It felt a lot better than it did last week,'' said the highly-skilled left wing, whose absence makes a severe dent in Boston's attack. ''It felt pretty good, but we didn't push it too hard.''
It will be Samsonov's fifth straight game in the press box. He hoped only to miss one or two games initially, but two prior attempts to skate found the knee too painful to test in game conditions.
''The MRI showed that it's only swelling in there, nothing too serious,'' said Samsonov, who exited with 10 goals and 29 points in 27 games - now second only to Joe Thornton's 30 points. ''They tell me these things can take two weeks, and I'm a little over that now, so I guess you could say I'm a little frustrated.''
Upon his return, Samsonov figures he may try to play with a derotation brace around the knee. Many players, even those who've never been injured (about 0.635 percent of the NHL rank-and-file), often wear the braces as a precaution.
''I'm definitely going to consider it,'' he said.
Meanwhile, Samsonov remains eager for a phone call this week. The Russian Olympic team must declare its full Salt Lake roster before the weekend is out, and the magical Muscovite dearly would like to suit up for Mother Russia.
''I haven't heard anything,'' he said. ''There's, what, five days left? I assume they have the team picked out already, but I haven't heard a word.''
New Jersey assistant coach Slava Fetisov, who also is GM-coach of the Russian squad, told Samsonov approximately three weeks ago that he had a strong chance of going to Olympus.
Good news for Hugheses
The Bruins had their annual family Christmas skate at the Fleet, and no one had wider smiles on the ice than assistant coach Jim Hughes and his wife, Ellen.
Immediately following Saturday night's game, Hughes got a call, notifying him that his toddler, Quintin, couldn't flex his right arm after taking a nasty fall at home.
''Funny, but you leave here after a loss, and that's all you can think about - the game, the game, the game,'' said the 34-year-old Hughes, a former Providence College standout. ''Then you get a call like that and, just like that, your whole focus changes.''
The Hughes family spent a few hours Saturday night at Holy Family Hospital in Methuen, where X-rays didn't show a fracture. Quintin, 26 months old, broke the arm seven months ago when he fell out of his crib. But for reasons no one could figure, the little guy couldn't move the arm Saturday. Sunday morning, the Hugheses reported to Children's Hospital in the Hub for another diagnosis.
''It turned out,'' said a happy dad, ''that it was nothing more than a dislocated elbow. The doctors there moved his arm around, the joint went back in place, and everything was fine. It was great. For us, we were so relieved, it was like a small miracle.''
MRI for ailing Axelsson
Wing P.J. Axelsson (0-4-4 over the last six games) didn't participate in the morning workout, his right shoulder banged and bruised from a fall in the loss to the Flyers. Following the family skate, he headed for an MRI exam. ''Tendinitis,'' said the ever-smiling Swede. ''That's a big word for me.'' ... Guerin on Dany Heatley and Ilya Kovalchuk, the Thrashers' standout rookie forwards: ''They're two of the brightest young stars in the league, and they're sticking with 'em.'' ... General manager Mike O'Connell said he agreed with coach Robbie Ftorek that this could be a good time to call up a body or two from the club's Providence (AHL) affiliate. How soon? ''Well, we'll see,'' said O'Connell. ''We've got this game [tonight] and we'll see how people are playing, and with Axelsson hurting, who knows what we might do.'' ... Ftorek did not agree with the assessment here that free agent pickup Martin Lapointe has seen his game slip some over the last 3-4 weeks. ''There is a lot more to the game than [point] production,'' said Ftorek, obviously aware that Lapointe has 1-2-3 totals in his last 10 games. ''There's hits, board work, going to the net. He's doing the job going to the net. Our last couple of power-play goals, he's provided the subtleties out there that we want from him. My marks on Marty have been straightforward the whole way. I haven't been disappointed at all.'' Lapointe has 18 points after 32 games, a projection of 46 points over a full season, which would be a drop of some 20 percent off his career-high of 57 last year in Detroit.
