BOSTON — Tim Thomas didn't take the ice for a second straight day on Tuesday, but the Bruins insist they are just being cautious with the veteran netminder as he attempts to make his way back from offseason hip surgery.
After practicing in the first two days of on-ice sessions at training camp over the weekend, Thomas did not participate in Monday's scrimmage. On Tuesday, Thomas was again absent when his Group A took the ice in the afternoon.
Adam Courchaine and Nolan Schaefer handled the goaltending duties in the afternoon practice, but Thomas should be back on the ice on Wednesday.
"It is [a precaution]," said Bruins coach Claude Julien. "He's going to practice with us [Wednesday] and he's going to be on the road trip with us. That's no more than just part of the process of giving him a little rest between some hard workouts because that's the only way he can heal properly."
Thomas, who had surgery to repair a torn labrum in his left hip in May, will travel with the club as the Bruins open their preseason slate with games at Montreal on Wednesday and against Florida in Rochester, N.Y. on Thursday, and while Julien wouldn't completely rule out the possibility that Thomas could see action in one of those games, it's more likely that Thomas will make his exhibition debut back in Boston when the Bruins host Florida on Saturday.
"He could [play on this trip], but he might be held out a little bit," said Julien. "It could be more like Saturday instead of these first two games. More than likely that would be the earliest you would see Timmy playing."
Thomas, the Vezina Trophy winner as the NHL's top goalie in 2008-09, is battling to regain his starting spot this year after being supplanted by Tuukka Rask last season. Thomas finished the 2009-10 season with a 17-18-8 record, 2.56 GAA and a .910 save percentage in 43 games, while Rask went 22-12-5 with a league-best 1.97 GAA and .931 save percentage in 45 games.
