BOSTON — There’s a procedure in the NHL for a player coming back from a concussion: The doctors put it off as long as necessary, and the coaches keep it quiet as long as possible.
So it was with Bruins forward Patrice Bergeron on Monday, when he returned for his first full practice since a May 6 concussion that kept him out of Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals. Boston coach Claude Julien would not comment on Bergeron’s availability for tonight’s second game against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
“There’s not much more to update you guys on except that I think, when he is ready to go, I think you guys will know it,” Julien said. “It’s just something that you can’t predict how quickly or how slow it’s going to be.”
Bergeron skated on his own Monday with general manager Peter Chiarelli watching, and then took part in noncontact power-play and penalty-killing drills with teammates. Julien has said it is up to the doctors when Bergeron returns to play, and it won’t be until he’s 100 percent.
Lightning coach Guy Boucher isn’t buying it.
“We prepared for him playing for the first game, so we’re preparing for him,” he said. “We know how important he is to the team.”
Thrashers to Winnipeg?
Thrashers president Don Waddell said the team is exploring “all options” for new owners amid a newspaper report that True North Sports and Entertainment is interested in moving the team to Winnipeg. Co-owner Bruce Levenson, NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly and Waddell would not confirm the report by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that cited a source.
