Ty Anderson: I do think that there was an illness element leading up to Game 1, the fact that he (Patrice Bergeron) did not practice. The fact that you had management and the coaching staff talking about the illness, I was talking to players about the illness. They said it was a brutal one. So I was heading into Game 1 thinking if he doesn’t play, it’s because of the illness, doesn’t mean he’s not injured. But the injury is almost secondary to the illness, given what it was entailing for a lot of these players. And then he’s in the room. He’s in the building on Monday night. So you start thinking, okay, now it’s injury. It’s not illness as much as much as it’s injury. And then today he gets out there by himself for a little bit, skating on his own. And then the morning skate starts, he jumps off the ice. He’s not out there anymore. So this is 100% injury related now. And what I will say, Beatle, is that I think that the fact that they are up 1-0, plays a factor in this. I think if they lost Game 1, I think there’s a decent chance that Bergeron was out there yesterday trying to ramp up to be ready for today. I think that right now they have a luxury of time on their side and that could be wiped out depending on what happens tonight. But I do think when it comes to managing this, I think that’s an important term here is “manageable” because they’re trying to manage his injuries, so that he is close to 100% upon a return to the lineup.
Marc Bertrand: So are you at all fearful that this goes beyond tonight’s game?
Ty Anderson: Well, I think fearful depends on what manner, right. Like if they win tonight, I think there’s a good chance he’s out for Game 3, maybe even Game 4. I think that there’s an element there of as long as you keep winning without him, why rush it? Right. They’re acknowledging that, they’re acknowledging it. They go up 2-0, that may have bought them some more time. Right. And so, you know, I think that’s one thing that I want to stress, like throughout this process is that they’ve said that it’s manageable, it’s nagging, it’s something that he’s dealt with in the past. So, you know, you can run through the list of injuries he’s had in the past. You know, is it a broken rib? Is it, you know, a groin injury that’s leading up to a sports hernia injury? Is it the elbow that he had fixed last offseason? So, you know, you’ll get any number of injuries he’s had over the years. It could be any of those. So, you know, I do think there’s an element here between the illness and the injury of getting back up your strength, your conditioning, your endurance, all of that, especially for playoff play. So if they win tonight, I think he’s out for game three. That’s just my own read on it though.
