Six Bruins return to practice after being ‘unfit to play’, not including the quarantined David Pastrnak
By Matt Dolloff, 985TheSportsHub.com
Days after an outrageous number of Bruins players had to be held out of practice, six guys returned on Monday. Annoyingly, David Pastrnak wasn’t one of them.
Thanks to multiple practice reports, it’s confirmed that the Bruins got back Tuukka Rask, David Krejci, Torey Krug, Charlie Coyle, Sean Kuraly, and Nick Ritchie back on Monday. Always good to get a major chunk of your veteran core back in the lineup amid COVID-19 fears.
The six aforementioned names were among a group of nine players missing from Saturday’s Bruins practice. They were ominously deemed “unfit to play,” despite head coach Bruce Cassidy confirming after the session the team had no physical injuries to speak of and being “unfit” doesn’t necessarily mean a positive COVID test.
Pastrnak and Ondrej Kase are two of those players who remain out. The former is reportedly quarantined for the time being after coming into contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19. Chris Wagner rounds out the list of players absent both Saturday and Monday.
Defenseman Charlie McAvoy was another notable absence on Monday. He wasn’t held out Saturday and attended every previous session.
Matt Grzelcyk and Brad Marchand of the Boston Bruins practice at Warrior Ice Arena on July 6, 2020. (Credit: Boston Bruins)
Here are Monday’s practice lines, via the Bruins on #NHLBruins practice lines:
Marchand – Bergeron – Bjork
DeBrusk – Krejci – Kuhlman
Kuraly – Coyle – Ritchie
Nordstrom – Lindholm – Senyshyn
Frederic – Studnicka – Carey
Chara – Zboril
Krug – Carlo
Grzelcyk – Lauzon
Moore – Clifton
Vaakanainen
Rask
Halak
Vladar
Lagace pic.twitter.com/j8NN8RoIDa
Marchand – Bergeron – Bjork
DeBrusk – Krejci – Kuhlman
Kuraly – Coyle – Ritchie
Nordstrom – Lindholm – Senyshyn
Frederic – Studnicka – Carey
Chara – Zboril
Krug – Carlo
Grzelcyk – Lauzon
Moore – Clifton
Vaakanainen
Rask
Halak
Vladar
Lagace
As long as Pastrnak is out of action, it’s perfectly fair to have daily mini-panic attacks over it. Can’t have your best offensive player catching or spreading the virus. If this were the NFL, Pastrnak would be a bigger story.
Just try to keep your panic off of social media because it won’t make you feel any better. But any sensible Bruins fan has good reason to be squirming right now.
Matt Dolloff is a digital producer for 985TheSportsHub.com. Any opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of 98.5 The Sports Hub, Beasley Media Group, or any subsidiaries. Have a news tip, question, or comment for Matt? Follow him on Twitter @mattdolloff or email him at matthew.dolloff@bbgi.com.
