Chara returns to team practice for Bruins

The team placed Zdeno Chara on injured reserve Monday, retroactive to September 24 when the 38-year-old defenseman suffered an upper-body injury, according to CSNNE Bruins Insider Joe Haggerty. Chara has not yet been ruled out for Thursday night’s season opener against the Winnipeg Jets at the TD Garden. The B’s play in a tough division that includes the Lightning, Red Wings, and Canadiens and frankly I think they will be hard pressed to beat any of those teams for a divisional berth but they could surprise a few and land a wild card berth. That’s obviously a step forward. “Moving forward with this team this year, we’ve got a lot of changes, a lot of new faces, that’re coming into our lineup”.

“Maybe [the National Hockey League experience] was a slight, slight edge, but even we can be wrong and maybe you do get to see Smitty [Jeremy Smith] back here again”. However, with Chara’s play seemingly regressing with age and the absence of an identity thanks to the departure of Lucic I think the Bruins will have a tough season despite Patrice Bergeron remaining one of the game’s best. “So it’s more than just how I’m feeling”.

Claude Julien wouldn’t say Tuesday morning whether the Bruins would send recently waived goaltender Jeremy Smith to Providence. The future for Talbot, who practiced Tuesday despite being placed on waivers a day earlier, had yet to be determined when he met with the media after learning he’d gone unclaimed. “I’m sure what’s going to happen to me”.

Jonas Gustavsson, who won the battle for the No. 2 goalie job, is on the ice, as the B’s have only two goalies for the first time this preseason.