Bruins Lose Mark Stuart With Broken Sternum

The Boston Bruins will be without Mark Stuart for 4-6 weeks, it is the first time Stuart has missed a game due to injuries for the Bruins.

It’s official: The iron-man streak that Bruins blue-liner Mark Stuart has been riding is no more.

The bruising defensemen, drafted in the first round of the 2003 NHL Draft by the B’s and a staple of the Boston defense since 2007-08, will be out of action for four-to-six weeks with a broken sternum.

Firstly, can it just be clarified how intense of an injury that is? When it comes to broken sternums, you usually think of a Macho-Man Randy Savage elbow drop circa 1988 WWF, not a common injury among hockey players. Considering the kind of player Stuart has become, it’s not a surprise that even the injuries he sustains are of an extreme nature.

A hit among the soldiers and fans alike, Stuart has shown a consistent increase in level of play along with offensive stats since the 2007-08 season. The durable blue-liner has on pace for his third straight season of being active for all 82 games of the season for the B’s until this recent injury has forced Stuart to the press-box.

In 32 games this season, the “Caveman” (as dubbed by Jack Edwards) had two goals and two assists with a -2 but was experiencing perhaps his best defensive year to date in his short career.

Stuart currently sits second among B’s defensemen with 53 hits (only Chara has more with 58) and 42 blocked shots while showing his more aggressive side with two fighting majors on the year.

Along with Stuart, it appears that Dennis Wideman will be inactive for the Bruins showdown with the ‘Hawks on Friday night. Wideman is rumored to be suffering from an upper-body injury while Derek Morris didn’t practice on the ice but did travel with the team.

The injuries to Stuart, Wideman, and possibly Morris also explains the call-up’s of Andy Wozniewksi and Adam McQuaid and placement of Milan Lucic on injured reserve.

The likely replacement for Stuart in the now has to be Providence captain and 6’4″ defensemen Adam McQuaid. Noted for his strong stay-at-home defensemen mentality, McQuaid is sure to be hungry to impress in his first chance in the NHL. While Wozniewksi brings a larger frame to the line-up at 6’5″, McQuaid has been noted as a stronger defensemen in his own zone, a quality cherished by B’s head coach Claude Julien.

The loss of Stuart will without question hurt the B’s defense, but the introduction of some NHL-hungry faces into the line-up could provide some extra momentum in the Bruins effort to return to their winning ways and break their current two game losing skid.

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