Bruins rookie Caron suffers tough break: out 4-6 weeks
Only six weeks after being selected in the first round of the draft by the Bruins, winger Jordan Caron sustained a fractured collarbone while trying out for Canada’s entry in the World Junior Championships last week, prompting Boston general manager Peter Chiarelli yesterday to label Caron “doubtful’’ for Boston’s rookie camp in Kitchener, Ontario.
“It doesn’t appear to be a [bad] fracture,’’ said Chiarelli. “We expect that it will be a 4-6 week recovery. I don’t know the full extent of it yet, but given the standard 4-6 weeks for this kind of injury, and the start date for rookie camp, I would say he is doubtful.’’
Jordan yesterday flew from Saskatoon, site of the Canadian camp, to Rimouski, Quebec, where his parents met him and drove him home to Saybec. He will meet with doctors later this week in Rimouski for a follow-up diagnosis, but from what doctors in Saskatchewan told him, he figures his recovery could be closer to eight weeks.
“Three weeks to camp . . . yeah, I’ll probably miss that,’’ said Caron, speaking in his heavily French-accented English. “We’ll see how fast I heal. I don’t know how long it might take, but I want to take time and make sure I am back in good percent.’’
The Bruins, Senators, Maple Leafs, and Penguins will convene in Kitchener for rookie camp Sept. 6-10.
According to numerous news accounts, the 18-year-old Caron was leveled by an aggressive, perhaps overzealous hit from fellow Canadian Colten Teubert during an intrasqaud scrimmage. Teubert, a 6-foot-4-inch, 200-pound defenseman out of the Western Hockey League’s Regina Pats, was chosen 13th overall by the Los Angeles Kings in 2008. Caron, 6-2 and 205 pounds, was selected 25th by the Bruins June 26 after he posted 36 goals and 67 points in 56 games this past season with the Rimouski Oceanic of the Quebec League.
“I haven’t seen the video of the hit,’’ said Chiarelli. “A couple of guys told me it was dirty and a couple of others said it was suspect, and without seeing it I really can’t say. Teubert’s a big, aggressive defenseman, and from what I’ve been told Caron was looking over his shoulder for a pass and got hit kind of blindsided.’’
Caron said he had just jumped off the bench to join the play and was only a stride or two over his defensive blue line, in open ice, when a teammate’s relay got tangled in his feet.
“The defenseman hit me pretty good in the middle of the ice,’’ recalled Caron, who also said he had not viewed the videotape. “It was all my fault. I should have just let the puck go but instead I was looking at the puck in my skates. I was looking to grab it and I should have let it go . . . all my fault.’’
Caron went for X-rays and then returned to the team hotel, where teammates, he said, treated him “like a little baby,’’ carting in a dinner of chicken and pasta. Teubert made a point of saying he was sorry about the hit.
“I told him I would have done the same thing,’’ said Caron. “He was just taking his check in the middle like he should. He didn’t jump up. His elbow was down. Just my bad luck, I guess. Like I said, I would have done the same thing.’’
Caron was among 24 players the Bruins intend to bring to Kitchener, leaving Chiarelli to surmise the club will extend an invite to another hopeful to fill out the roster. Boston’s full training camp, to be staged as always in Wilmington, opens Sept. 12.
Team Canada will hold its final evaluation camp in December, just prior to the start of the WJC tournament, which will be held in Saskatoon.
“I’ll probably have another chance then,’’ said a clearly disappointed Caron.
Chiarelli reported there is no update on talks aimed at getting Phil Kessel signed to a new contract. Kessel, who scored 36 goals in 2008-09, remains the varsity’s only unsigned free agent and is not eligible for salary arbitration. Per CBA rules, if he remains unsigned, he must reach a deal by Dec. 1 to play in the league this season. Kessel’s agent, Wade Arnott, did not respond to an e-mail yesterday afternoon.
Kessel is expected to report this weekend to suburban Chicago, where Team USA will hold its summer camp for Olympic hopefuls. Kessel underwent shoulder surgery soon after Boston’s second-round playoff elimination and is not expected to participate in on-ice drills or scrimmages. Boston goalie Tim Thomas, named the league’s top netminder in June, is also part of the Yankee contingent.
Kevin Paul Dupont can be reached at dupont@globe.com. 
