WILMINGTON, Mass. — The Bruins were back at work again on Thursday, and this time they had a full complement of players on the ice at Ristuccia Arena.
Defensemen Andrew Ference and Dennis Seidenberg both returned to action after missing most of Wednesday's workout.
After skating briefly before practice on Wednesday, Ference was held out of shooting drills after receiving a cortisone shot in his left thumb to reduce swelling in a nagging injury he originally suffered last season.
"It was from last year," said Ference, who participated fully in Thursday's practice. "It was just some swelling, so the cortisone takes care of that."
While the thumb has bothered Ference since last season, this was the first time the swelling was severe enough to require a cortisone injection.
"It was in Atlanta, my hand got caught between, I don't remember who it was, but I was playing a guy one-on-one and Johnny [Boychuk] hit him at the same time and I got sandwiched between a pretty big boy and somebody else," said Ference of how he suffered the injury. "So it was just some swelling from that."
While the thumb has been bothering Ference, he has had no lingering problems from his offseason groin surgery.
"It's good, really good," said Ference, who also underwent surgery on the other side of his groin prior to last season. "The other side held up great last year and this side has been great this year."
Seidenberg, meanwhile, returned Thursday after leaving practice early on Wednesday with a stomach ailment.
"It was just a quick one," said Seidenberg. "I feel a lot better today. [Wednesday], I almost died on the ice."
Seidenberg, who still wasn't certain whether it was the flu or food poisoning, noted that he made it through the entire European trip healthy, only to be stricken with this illness upon his return to Boston.
"It's always like that I guess," said Seidenberg. "You're all broken down and then you pick something up when you get back."
