He's getting his skating legs
Kobasew is on ice after long break
COLE HARBOUR, Nova Scotia - In an ordinary offseason, Chuck Kobasew would stay off the ice for a month, then begin skating in June.
But because of the broken left tibia he suffered March 25, courtesy of a Zdeno Chara slap shot, Kobasew didn't hit the ice until August. His leg has healed, but because of his limited ice time over the summer, Kobasew is in the day-to-day category along with Chara (shoulder) and Shane Hnidy (knee) and has yet to appear in an exhibition game.
"Chuck, Hnides, and Z are cautious things right now," said Bruins coach Claude Julien. "They're all coming off injuries. You can rehab all you want in the summertime. But they haven't been at this level of competition much during the summer. We'll give them a chance to do some stuff before we get them in a game."
Yesterday at Cole Harbour Place, as he has throughout training camp, Kobasew practiced without limitations, skating on a line with P.J. Axelsson and David Krejci. After practice, Kobasew stayed on the ice for extra work with strength and conditioning coach John Whitesides.
During one drill, Kobasew tied resistance bands around his waist. He then took several explosive strides while Whitesides held onto the bands. Later, Kobasew planted on his left leg and absorbed checks from Whitesides.
"This is the first time I've been on the ice since I got hurt," Kobasew said. "I skated during the summer, but it's not the same as competing like this. So, I'm just working on it."
Kobasew is coming off a career-high 22 goals in 2007-08. He also missed time last season with back and groin injuries.
Tough talk
In Monday's exhibition opener, Montreal winger Andrei Kostitsyn drilled Marco Sturm with a check along the boards that the Bruins wing didn't like. Then in the third period, Kostitsyn clipped Andrew Ference with a high hit into the end boards. Ference first responded with a slash on Kostitsyn's leg. Then he got in Kostitsyn's face and engaged him in a one-sided beating. It was one of four fights in the game."He's dirty," Ference said. "That's the time to take care of plays like that. You want to take care of it during the season, but that stupid instigator penalty is in effect. That's a perfect example of why that rule should be abolished. It's way more dangerous to be hitting like that than to be fighting. It's not the first time he's done something like that. You can't let guys play like that."
As hot as Ference was about Kostitsyn's hit, he was just as annoyed about the penalties (instigating, fighting, misconduct) he drew for sticking up for himself.
"He's not going to square off against you," Ference said. "That's going to be an instigator penalty 99 percent of the time. I'm lucky. I'm a small enough guy that I can go after guys like that. A big guy can't run around, chase him down, and pound on him. But it's going to be an instigator penalty even if he does hit me in the head or my teammate from behind, and I'm still going to get the extra. So, it's stupid."
Sauve cut
The Bruins made their second round of cuts, sending Maxime Sauve back to Val-d'Or, his junior team. Sauve was the 47th pick in the 2008 draft.The 18-year-old center appeared in one exhibition game. Sauve centered Matt Marquardt and Martins Karsums in Tuesday's 2-1 overtime loss to the Islanders. He also skated on the second power-play unit.
"We know he's a very skillful player, so we were giving him an opportunity on the power play to showcase his strengths," Julien said after the game. "He's our second-round pick. We have high hopes for him. Just making sure we get a good look at him. This is an opportunity to give those guys a reason to go back [to junior] and try to better themselves, realizing there's still a lot to work on."
Thomas tonight
Tim Thomas will see his first action of the exhibition season when he starts in net against Detroit tonight at the Halifax Metro Centre . . . Over the first two games, six players have served as alternate captains: Ference, Patrice Bergeron, Sturm, Stephane Yelle, Dennis Wideman, and Mark Stuart . . . Jordan Knackstedt, a long shot to make the big club, can return as an overage player to Moose Jaw, his junior team, or be assigned to Providence if he signs an entry-level contract. Director of hockey operations and player development Don Sweeney has been negotiating with Knackstedt's agent.