...but between injuries to his fellow blue liners and his stubborn insistence on skating as much as the bench boss would allow, Julien has had to resort to giving his captain a maintenance day or two.
"Maintenance day, day off for him," Julien said to reporters on Sunday. "He's a big man, he needs some time off - in our minds, not in his mind, but in our minds - so every once in a while, we force him to stay off."
Averaging over 25 minutes per match thus far in the 2013/14 season, he is actually on pace to exceed last season's average - a number that has spiked since partner Dennis Seidenberg was lost for the season with a knee injury.
Chara had no comment as he walked out of the arena in street clothes, but Julien laughed when asked if Chara was upset about being forced to take a day off.
"He's getting used to it now," smiled Julien, "He hasn't won a fight yet so when I tell him to stay off, he's getting the message now."
If "The Condor" is still steaming about being excluded from joining his teammates for practice on Sunday, he'll have the opportunity to blow off a little steam on Monday night at Nassau Coliseum when his Bruins take on the New York Islanders.
http://www.sportsinjuryalert.com/2014/01/zdeno-charas-day-off.html
No comments:
Post a Comment