LOWELL, Mass. — No team can survive an extended run in the Stanley Cup playoffs without suffering a few casualties, and the 2011 champion Bruins were no exception.
Fortunately for Boston, the injuries suffered appear to be healing up nicely as the next season approaches. Nathan Horton reports no symptoms from his concussion, while Milan Lucic had his broken nose fixed. Goalie Tuukka Rask also went under the knife this summer, but expects to be fine for training camp next month after undergoing a minor procedure on his left knee.
"I had my knee scoped there after the season, so I was pretty much out the whole good four or five weeks there and couldn't do [much]," Rask said at Lucic's Rock & Jock Celebrity Softball Game on Wednesday. "But I'm starting to get back on track now and working out and hopefully go on the ice next week or so and start to get back in shape."
Rask didn't actually see any game action in the postseason playing behind Conn Smythe winner Tim Thomas, and the Finnish netminder's injury actually occurred during the regular season.
"It actually happened in January," Rask said. "I tweaked it, but it didn't stop me from playing or practicing. It was just something that we saw that was better to fix, because it would have bugged [me] in the future at some point, so it was just a minor fix-up, but the recovery was a few weeks."
Rask had a similar procedure on his right knee several years ago and recovered fully, and expects to have no problem coming back from this surgery as well.
He'll face a tougher challenge earning playing time with Thomas coming off such a historic season. Thomas, 37, is likely to need a little additional rest this year after playing so much with this past spring's Cup run. But regardless of how much playing time he gets, Rask, 24, is determined to maintain the positive attitude he's shown throughout his time in Boston.
"I mean, anything can happen, right?" Rask said. "And you've just got to go day-by-day and no matter what, be a great teammate, because even if you're playing or you're not playing, you've still got to support the guys and be a part of the group, so that was the really big thing I learned the past two years."
