TORONTOPeter Chiarelli called the sudden change in the Bruins goaltending situation the imperfect storm with Tuukka Rask going down in Boston, and top AHL goaltender Anton Khudobin unavailable due to a wrist injury that will keep him out for roughly another two weeks at the earliest.
Rask is out 4-6 weeks with a strained groinstrained abdomen, and the Bs general manager said his recovery will skew toward the far end of the window rather than a simple month. So the Bruins will need somebody to step in as Thomas backup and Chiarelli hopes it will be 36-year-old Marty Turco under the circumstances.
Its kind of an imperfect storm, said Chiarelli with a smile. But every team has injuries and deals with them. Khudobin is a guy that weve worked hard to put into place over the last three years, but it is what it is.
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Its important to give Thomas some rest and history shows that its important to spell him. But in his earlier years he played a ton of games in a row. In an ideal situation you want to rest him for the playoffs and thats what were trying to do.
But the Bs general manager also said it was 5050 that Turco clears through NHL waivers by noon tomorrow and is able to join Boston for a portion of their practice at Ristuccia Arena.
Chiarelli said he checked in with Turcos coach in the Austrian League, and that the veteran netminder is potentially coming to Boston in good game condition.
The plan is to have him play and spell Tim, said Chiarelli, who indicated there werent any other goalies available via waivers. Were fortunate to a certain degree that a goalie like this was available after the trade deadline, but there are other teams that need goaltending help as well.
Id say its 5050 that he clears waivers.
Both Chiarelli and Bruins President indicated that Khudobin, who should be back sooner rather than later, will be the Plan B solution should Turco ultimately get claimed by a team looking to put a crimp in Bostons regular season. But it appears clear that the Bruins dont feel comfortable handing things over to 21-year-old Michael Hutchinson unless its an emergency situation, and that makes sense given what an NHL beating or two could do to a promising young goaltenders confidence.