Paille 'Dinged Pretty Good' From First Period Hit
BOSTON (CBS) – Boston Bruins forward Daniel Paille was just getting over the puck to the face he took last month when he took a hard hit from the Panthers in Thursday's 2-0 loss.
"Not a concrete update, just that, as you know, he got dinged pretty good there, and our doctors felt that it was safer to not let him return and examine him a little bit further. He wasn't well enough to come back," Bruins head coach Claude Julien said after the loss.
Paille was slow to get up and had a hard time getting to his feet after being hit into the boards by Krys Barch early in the first period. He did not return after the hit.
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Immediately following the hit, Shawn Thornton and Gregory Campbell went to his defend their teammate.
"I just saw Paisey (Paille) laying there and obviously the type of team we are, I'm going to air on the side of sticking up for him," said Thornton. "I mean, if it was a clean hit, then it was a clean hit but if it wasn't, I'm glad we got in there. I mean for, especially guys like me and Soupy (Campbell) aren't going to- we're definitely going to step up if one of our teammates is laying there."
"He's a good a player. It's unfortunate that he got hit like that," defenseman Johnny Boychuk said after the loss. "It's nice that Thornton stepped in and handled his business."
There was no penalty for Barch on the play, just fighting majors to both him and Thornton.
Thornton said he spoke with Paille between periods, but couldn't tell if his teammate suffered a concussion or not. Even though it appeared to be a clean hit, Thornton is glad he and Campbell wasted no time to stuck up for their teammate.
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"That's the type of players we are. I think we're not going to let liberties be taken while were out there, that's for sure," said Thornton.
Paille missed three games last month after taking a slap shot to the face against the New York Islanders. He was wearing a full cage mask, but switched back to a visor for Tuesday night's game.
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