Chris Kelly took another step in his recovery process Tuesday morning, joining his Boston Bruins teammates as they took the ice at San Jose’s SAP Center for an optional pregame skate.
The veteran forward called it a “baby step,” but it was a step nonetheless.
“Just getting back out there with the guys for an optional morning skate was nice,” Kelly told reporters, via BostonBruins.com. “I’ve been skating for a bit now by myself, and it’s just nice to get back out there with the guys, even though it was just an optional morning skate.”
Most believed Kelly’s season — and perhaps even his career — was over after he suffered a broken femur during a Nov. 3 loss to the Dallas Stars. The injury kept him off the ice for nearly four months, but he began skating again March 2.
The Bruins currently have no timetable for when Kelly might be ready to suit up in a game, but with 12 regular-season contests remaining and Boston in position to nab a playoff spot, neither he nor head coach Claude Julien are ruling out a late-season return.
“He’s just starting to skate with us,” Julien told reporters. “As you saw (on Monday), he didn’t skate in the practice with us, (but he) got on the ice at the end. If anything on this (four-game road) trip, we’re hoping that he can slowly jump into line rushes and that kind of stuff. But definitely no contact at this point until we get a better sense from the medical staff that we can move on to the next step.
“But it’s nice just to get him with us and skating with some movement around him besides skating by himself. He’s at that stage right now.”
Kelly played in 11 games for the Bruins before his injury, scoring two goals.
Thumbnail photo via Marc DesRosiers/USA TODAY Sports Images
