Hitting the Links: O Captain, My Captain Weekend Edition

The huge news to come out of the Bruins' 4-3 win in Columbus last night was captain Zdeno Chara leaving the ice in the second period after an apparent knee injury. Chara bumped awkwardly with Jackets forward Antoine Vermette and appeared to injure his left knee. There is no word so far as to the extent of the injury, but Chara was able to make it off the ice under his own power, so that is definitely a positive. You can't really overstate his impact on this team. It would be a huge blow for the Bs if Z is out for an extended period.

In what was a very discomforting game in general, Tim Thomas was pulled after the second period in favor of Tuukka Rask. No injury worries here, as Claude Julien said he just felt Thomas looked uncomfortable. The move paid off, as Thomas during his time in net and Tuukka Rask made 11 saves in the third period for the win.

After the jump, as much Chara news as I could find, Philly suffers some injuries as well, and a tough break for Ryan Spooner.

Bruins News

• OMG guys we're popular now!:)<3 But really the swell of support for the Bs is great. I think we can all agree it's been amazing to see. [WEEI]
• Ryan Spooner has come down with mononucleosis and will miss Canada's World Juniors evaluation camp, which from my understanding means he will not be in the tournament. Hope he gets better soon. [WEEI]
• Fluto Shinzawa of the Globe with as much detail as is out there on the Chara injury. Definitely a good sign that he was walking around without any obvious discomfort. [Globe]
• Johnny Boychuk on the team sticking up for Daniel Paille Thursday night. Paille is out with a concussion now. after a Krys Barch hit. Gotta love how close this team is and how much they care about each other. [ESPN]
• There will be no more talk of Tyler Seguin's benching, no matter how much you ask and how nicely. [Projo]
• Haggs says what we're all thinking: the season really hangs in the balance right now on the extent of Chara's injury. [CSNNE]
• Jordan Caron gets a chance with Paille's injury. It's about time he makes his case for a permanent spot on the team and stops travelling I-95 so much. [CSNNE]

NHL News

• Claude Giroux took an accidental (I assume) knee to the head from Wayne SImmonds last night and did not return. Ilya Bryzgalov also left the game. Add that onto the Pronger injury and my are the Flyers hurting right now. [Pro Hockey Talk]
• NHL teams aren't exactly being honest when describing head injuries. [Puck Daddy]
• Pierre LeBrun thinks the Habs were one of the four teams to vote against the realignment proposal, along with the Rangers, Lightning, and presumably the Devils. [ESPN]
• Remember how everyone was ripping the Kaberle-to-Montreal deal? He quieted them (aka us) for a little with two assists yesterday in a 2-1 Habs win over the Devils. [TSN]
• Oilers defenseman Andy Sutton was suspended eight games for a high hit on Hurricanes forward Alexei Ponikarovsky. I haven't seen a ton of the Shanahan videos but this one is really well-done. Plus wow does Andy Sutton have a record. [NHL]

Whenever word gets out about Chara tomorrow we'll be right on it for you. Let's hope for the best.