Tag: Jim Montgomery

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Bruins reveal David Krejci’s status for Game 1 of postseason

NBC Sports

Boston Bruins veteran forward David Krejci has missed the last six games with what is being described as a lower body injury, and he also won’t be in the lineup for his team’s regular season finale tomorrow night against the Original 6 and Atlantic Division rival Montreal Canadiens. 

The good news is that Boston, who has already set the new National Hockey League record for wins in a single season with 63, can afford to have him sitting out. And the even better news is that he will in fact be in the lineup soon. According to head coach Jim Montgomery, Krejci will be good to go when his team hits the ice for Game 1 of their opening round postseason series. 

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Bruins announce critical health updates

NHL.com

With the Boston Bruins having already secured the President’s Trophy, they can certainly afford to not have a few important faces in the lineup as the regular season winds down to a close. 

Defenseman Charlie McAvoy departed last night’s game against the Toronto Maple Leafs after sustaining a hit along the boards; he was held out of the rest of the contest due to precautionary reasons. The good news for him is that his ailment isn’t believed to be serious.

Meanwhile, veteran forward David Krejci isn’t expected to be able to suit up by the next time that his team hits the ice, according to head coach Jim Montgomery.

“Krejci is very doubtful, I would say,” Montgomery said. “McAvoy is to be determined, it’s just how he responds to treatment today to be honest. [Taylor] Hall is getting closer. He hasn’t checked all the boxes, but he’s close. He is a possibility for this weekend.”

They host the postseason-bound New Jersey Devils tomorrow night at home at TD Garden. 

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Jim Montgomery comments on the NHL’s favoritism towards Sidney Crosby.

The topic of favoritism is always a hot button issue in the world of sports and on Saturday, Boston Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery may have hit that button.

After his Boston Bruins took a hard fought win over the Pittsburgh Penguin, Montgomery shared his thoughts on some of the officiating that took place during the game. Specifically, Montgomery called out what he calls “Sid Rules,” special treatment shown to the face of the National Hockey League, Penguins captain Sidney Crosby.

Montgomery admitted that the favoritism shown to the NHL’s top star made him hesitant to challenge a goal during the course of the game, although Montgomery didn’t seem to mind too much.

“OK, we thought it was goalie interference because Swayman was hit in the head,” said Montgomery of a failed coach’s challenge during today’s game. “Now, you know how there used to be the Jordan Rules (in the NBA)? I’ve been here (in Pittsburgh) now five times, and something I’m almost sure that’s going to happen – didn’t happen tonight: They’re going to get a 2 on 1 in the first minute, because we’re going to make a mistake; they’re going to get a 5 on 3, and you’re going to be killing a lot of penalties. This is the third time l’ve been here where we challenge – you get it wrong sometimes. I call it the Sid Rules. He’s a great player. He’s a great player. And you know what, the league should take care of their superstars. That’s why I was kind of hesitant about challenging it.”

Montgomery has superstars of his own on the Bruins roster in the form of players like Patrice Bergeron and David Pastrnak, so a world in which officials give superstars some leniency benefits him in the long run. When asked if he felt his team had gotten the short end of the stick in terms of the officiating on Saturday, Montgomery again indicated that he didn’t have an issue with how things were called.

“No. No, I don’t think we were on the wrong end of anything,” admitted the Bruins head coach. “But I do think the hockey gods rewarded us in the end.”

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More bad news regarding Bruins captain Patrice Bergeron.

Anthony Nesmith/CSM/Zuma

The Boston Bruins have been without the services of their captain Patrice Bergeron in the latter stages of the 2022-23 regular season and, although there is reason to believe he would still be playing if the Bruins were playing more meaningful games, that has been something of a cause of concern among the Bruins fan base.

On Saturday, Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery provided an update on his injured captain and once again the news wasn’t particularly positive. Montgomery indicated that Bergeron would continue to sit out throughout the weekend, missing both today’s game against the Pittsburgh Penguins as well as Sunday’s game against the St. Louis Blues.

Montgomery also revealed that Bergeron was actually dealing with not just one injury, but at least a pair of injuries as the Bruins close in on the Stanley Cup playoffs. Montgomery revealed that Bergeron was suffering from both upper body and lower body injuries, making it all the more reasonable to give him time to recover now while they can before the start of the playoffs.

That means the earliest that Bruins fans can expect to see their captain back on the ice will be this coming Thursday when the Bruins take on a division rival in the Toronto Maple Leafs. That game is likely to have a playoff-like atmosphere given the recent run of playoff dominance from the Bruins over the Leafs.

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Jim Montgomery pushes back on Taylor Hall report

NHL.com

Boston Bruins bench boss Jim Montgomery is pushing back on a report from SportsNet Canada’s Darren Dreger, who said that forward Taylor Hall is healthy enough to return to action but is being held out due to salary cap restraints. 

For those of you who may not have seen Dreger’s initial comments, you can view them below: 

“While we were at the general managers’ meetings in Florida earlier this month, there was some discussions about the salary cap and how it related to players that are on long-term injured reserve; is that a key topic of discussion right now with the Boston Bruins, Darren?” host Gino Reda asked Dreger during the latest episode of ‘TSN Insider Trading’ during Tuesday night’s game against the Nashville Predators. 

“Yes it is, specific to one player and maybe two – Taylor Hall and Nick Foligno of the Bruins,” Dreger replied. “We know, according to reports and video, that Hall has been skating with the Bruins for several days now. Sources say that he feels he is ready. The problem is the Bruins don’t have the cap space to activate Hall. Now the NHL playoffs are less than three weeks away so it’s going to be interesting to see how the Bruins manage this situation or, if like the Tampa Bay Lightning a few years ago, they try and stretch it out until the start of the postseason so it’s something that I’m sure other clubs are paying attention to as well.”

Hall was placed on Long Term Injured Reserve by the Bruins after suffering a lower body injury in early March, but has made recent appearances at Bruins practice sessions while wearing a non-contact jersey. And according to Montgomery, Dreger’s report isn’t true. 

“The only thing I can say is that I know he is not cleared. That’s what I know so that report to me is false,” Montgomery said.

Hall has scored 16 goals with 20 assists in the 58 games that he’s appeared in this season with Boston.

The Bruins are back in action later tonight against the visiting Columbus Blue Jackets.