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Kobasew in walking cast

Email|Link|Comments (14) Posted by Kevin Paul Dupont, Globe Staff October 10, 2008 02:03 PM

The Bruins are in Minnesota today, and will be practicing later in the afternoon in preparation of tomorrow night's matchup with the Wild in St. Paul.

Meanwhile, according to general manager Peter Chiarelli, his club could be without top-six winger Chuck Kobasew. The ex-Boston College standout took a shot to an ankle early in last night's 5-4 win over Colorado, and he'll have an X-ray later in the day to determine if he sustained a fracture.

''Right in the meaty part of the ankle,'' said a somewhat discouraged-sounding Chiarelli, reached by phone early this afternoon. ''We'll know more later today, maybe this afternoon.''

The ankle didn't pose any problems, said Chiarelli, until Kobasew removed his skate boot after the game.

''Now he's in a walking cast,'' said Chiarelli.

If Kobasew must sit out tomorrow night, the Bruins could suit up either winger Petteri Nokelainen or Andrew Alberts, both of whom were healthy scratches last night in Denver. Chiarelli said one consideration would be to have Alberts, a career blueliner, suit up and play the wing.

''Sure, it's something we've considered,'' he said. ''Just for one game.''

Kobasew, oft-injured before and after his arrival in Boston in a trade with Calgary in February 2007, picked up a pair of assists (Blake Wheeler and David Krejci goals) against the Avs.

Globe wingman Fluto Shinzawa is in Minnesota and will report back here later.

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14 comments so far...

Tough break for Kobasew. The guy just can't stay healthy.

I'd love to see Alberts play 1 game on the wing. That way he won't have to do as much thinking with the puck. He'll also be a badass 4th liner. Haha, they should try it.

Posted by matt October 10, 08 02:16 PM

This guy keeps getting hit by shots and breaking his bones. That ain't normal. I thought it was weird how he got hurt last year. Does he not wear shin pads or did he never drink milk as a youth....

Posted by kevin October 10, 08 02:23 PM

and what exactly is the "meaty part" of the ankle? There is no MEAT on my ankles.....

Posted by kevin October 10, 08 02:26 PM

If it weren't for bad luck...

Posted by Yogi October 10, 08 02:47 PM

its right on the top of the ankle where its mostly tissue and ligament where the tibia and foot bones meet to create the ankle, i had a nice hairline from simply walking barefoot.. likely he wont miss more than one or 2 games so they can modify the boot properly for stabilization

Posted by Aly October 10, 08 02:52 PM

Keep Alberts in a suit and put in Nokelainen. Too bad Sabotka was not on the trip. He would also be a good option.

Posted by KSpecial October 10, 08 03:41 PM

Poor Chuck, he's just one of those guys who seems to be stalked by the demon Murphy.

A horrible thought.... shove Wheeler back to center for a shift or two and send Alberts, Wheeler and Lucic out. :-) Maybe with Ward and Stuart on D...

Posted by b&gbleeder October 10, 08 03:41 PM

To Kevin:

I don't know what kind of milk you drink, but there's not much milk can do to ease the pain of being hit directly on the bone with a 102 mile per hour slapshot.

Posted by dr12487 October 10, 08 03:57 PM

I umpire baseball and I took a pitch off that area. It stung like hell. I walked it off. The next day it hurt like a bastard. It's not broken but I couldn't imaging taking a puck there from an NHL player. It wouldn't suprise me if he's out six weeks with a break.

Hopefully, this is the only injury issue they have. However, they need a little more fire than they had last night.

Posted by Harv October 10, 08 04:00 PM

Definitely not a break if he kept skating. If anything it is a fracture of some sort. Hopefully nothing too serious and he can get back into the action. 3 weeks max.

Posted by bruinsfanfromsk October 10, 08 07:35 PM

Seems to me there could be some padding between the top of the skate and the bottom of the knee pad. Why not a knee pad that clicks to a higher boot rise or something? Or a thicker boot rise itself? You could do it in a way that retained mobility.

It's just stupid to get hurt this way.

While we're at it, how about a thin plastic shield on the BACK of the leg?

Posted by Medford Mickey October 10, 08 08:17 PM

Always thought a break WAS a fracure! Hmmmm.....

In any case, the B's dont need another injury hobbled year. They looked pretty good last night, didn't they? I thought so.

Posted by The Greg October 11, 08 12:22 AM

When I play, I tuck the tongue of my skate up underneath the shin pad and pull the sock down. There isn't THAT much more padding on the tongue of the skate, but I figure every little bit helps and at least everything is covered. I have been hit in the same spot a few times where the puck avoids the shin guard and catches the skate. It stings like an SOB. Certainly not fun.

Posted by SB27 October 11, 08 02:42 AM

A "fracture" and a "break" are the SAME exact thing. These terms are used interchangeably in the medical setting. The time that chuck will be off the ice depends on the severity of the fracture/break. (location, extent etc, type of fracture - there are many different types etc...)

Posted by Cacci October 12, 08 04:33 PM