By Danny Picard
CSNNE.com
WILMINGTON -- With Patrice Bergeron back at practice on Monday, Mark Recchi was the only non-injured Bruins player missing. Recchi was given a "personal day," according to coach Claude Julien.
Recchi will be available on Tuesday night in Montreal, but injured defensemen Andrew Ference (lower body) and Steve Kampfer (concussion) won't travel with the team.
Ference has missed the last four games and was scheduled to resume skating by Monday. Julien said after practice that Ference hasn't hit the ice yet, not even on his own, but that could change soon.
"We had predicted Sunday or maybe today, but he's not quite there yet," said Julien. "It really is a day-to-day situation. So depending on how it's going to go today, he could skate tomorrow, it could be the day after. He's getting closer."
Kampfer left Thursdays game against Tampa Bay early with a mild concussion that he suffered after being hit hard in his own corner by Mattias Ritola.
The original timetable for Kampfer was for him to miss "at least a week." But after Monday's practice, Kampfer didn't sound as optimistic, saying that the off-and-on headaches he was still dealing with forced him to say he "didn't know" when he'd return.
Boston Bruins
"It's the occasional headache that still bothers you, and that's about it," said Kampfer, who hopes to start riding the stationary bike in the next couple of days. "It's frustrating. They'll go away for a couple of hours and then they'll come back. But it's getting better as time goes on.
Kampfer has had time to watch Ritola's hit from Thursday night, and while he didn't think it was a dirty play, he does believe the refs made a mistake by not calling a penalty.
"I didn't think it was a dirty hit," said Kampfer. "I was squared to the puck. My body was turning up ice. I just didn't think he was ever going to play the puck. You watch the tape, and when your stick's at your waist, you're not playing the puck. I mean, he was going for a highlight hit, and I gave it to him.
"I think it's a penalty, but I'm also biased of the hit. For him, it's a good hit. I just think it resulted in an interference. There was no way he was going to try and play that puck. But at the end of the day, that's how the game's played. So I just hope I get better."
Danny Picard is on Twitter at http:twitter.comDannyPicard. You can listen to Danny on his streaming radio show I'm Just Sayin'Monday-Friday from 9-10 a.m. on CSNNE.com.