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    All-Centennial Team

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    Stanley Cup Champs

    Could Seidenberg return this season?

    Photo via boston.cbslocal.com
         The Bruins took a huge blow back in December, when veteran defenseman Dennis Seidenberg tore both his ACL, and his MCL in his right knee while facing off with the Ottawa Senators. Most people assumed that Seids would miss the remainder of the season, as well as any playoff run the Bruins made.          
        However, recent conversations with Bruins president Cam Neely, GM Peter Chiarelli , and head coach Claude Julien haven't ruled out the veteran defenseman quite yet. While making his weekly appearance on 98.5 the Sports Hub, Neely was asked about the chance of Seidenberg making a return this season, if the Bruins can make a deep run in the playoffs.

    “It’s really unfair to start speculating that,” Neely said. “It’s unfair to the player. I’m just going off of experience. You wanna play and you wanna get out and play, but really, certain injuries certainly take a certain amount of time to heal and everyone has an idea of that time. But it’s really unfair to an athlete to start questioning or asking, ‘Can they get back to play?’ Time will certainly be able to answer that question.
     “It’s hard to put it out there because it’s really unfair to the athlete because then they think, ‘Maybe I can come back early,’ and that may not be helpful.”

         On Friday, Peter Chiarelli talked to The Boston Globe, saying:

    “I’m not counting on this. He’s ahead of schedule. I don’t, like, say, ‘Hey, if we’re in the Finals and we’re in Game 4,’ but that’s the type of scenario. He’s ahead of schedule and you can’t rule anything out, but I’m not counting on it.”

         Julien also commented on the possibility, pretty much saying that it's not something the team is going to count on, but hasn't been completely ruled out quite yet.

    Photo via bostonherald.com
    “I think when the time comes, he’ll be evaluated,” Julien told reporters Friday. “The surgery was a pretty serious one, and we have to make a real good decision there.”
    “If you see him back, it’s because everybody feels pretty comfortable about it,” Julien said. “Medically, the doctors really feel strongly that it heals. So right now, it’s not even something we’re entertaining right now at this stage. “He’s such an elite athlete that trains hard, so he might be ahead of schedule a little bit, but is he ahead of the schedule that was put in front of him? I’m not sure about that.”

         So it's not the most likely scenario that the German Hammer will make a return this season
    , but at least it's nice to hear that there's a chance.

    Follow Cam Hasbrouck on Twitter @CamHasbrouck and Bruins Life @BruinsLife

    Cole, Mike. "NESN." NESNcom. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Mar. 2014.