BOSTON — The Bruins could be getting some needed reinforcements for the blue line soon, but not as much as they would like.
Veteran defenseman Andrew Ference is progressing well in his recovery from a lower-body injury, but rookie blueliner Steven Kampfer suffered a setback in his attempt to return from his latest concussion.
Ference skated for a second straight day on Wednesday, taking the ice at the Garden on his own before the team's morning skate.
"Andy skated again [Thursday] and he's progressing as normal as can be here and he's doing fine," Bruins coach Claude Julien said.
Julien stated that Ference will not accompany the team to Long Island for Friday's game against the Islanders, but could be ready to return as soon as early next week.
"Depending on how he does here in the next few days, I said I wouldn't exclude him from the game in Columbus [next Tuesday]," Julien said.
The news on Kampfer isn't as optimistic. He rode the stationary bike for the first time since he suffered a concussion on a hit by Tampa Bay's Mattias Ritola last Thursday, but suffered headaches several hours after the 15-minute workout.
"I had some headaches [Wednesday] night," Kampfer said. "I tend to go a couple steps forward, a couple steps back. So we are back essentially to square one. We're going to see how I feel [Friday], do some more testing and hopefully it will be not too long."
Kampfer stated he has been experiencing no other symptoms from the concussion, but the headaches continue to bother him, forcing him to be cautious in his attempt to come back.
"You want to get back, but at the same time you're trying to get better," Kampfer said. "So it's frustrating. But I do feel better, a lot better. I felt good riding the back [Wednesday], but it's one of those things where I end up getting a headache later in the day. That's a precautionary thing. You're not getting your heart rate up that high and now you're getting headaches, so it's not good."
Kampfer, who originally had hoped to skate on Thursday, hopes to attempt another try on the bike on Friday. He has to get through that workout without any further symptoms before he can attempt to skate.
He'll remain in Boston with Ference when the team goes on the road on Friday.
"They're going to stay back," Julien said. "They're going to stay here and they'll get more accomplished here than coming on the road with us for one game."
