Bruce Cassidy provides an update on Brad Marchand.

The Boston Bruins have just provided a very important update.

There was some serious concern this morning when it was revealed that Boston Bruins star forward Brad Marchand was mysteriously absent from Bruins practice. Now that would be a concern at the best of times but when you consider that this is the Sunday morning before the Stanley Cup Final, which is set to kickoff on Monday, there were some serious alarm bells going off regarding the status of the notorious Bruins agitator. 

In an earlier report I speculated that the absence from Marchand this morning could possibly related to the apparent injury he suffered during a Bruins only scrimmage at TD Garden on Thursday. Now that may in fact still be the case but any potential crisis related to that injury has been averted as Boston Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy has just provided us with a very important update. 

According to Cassidy Marchand has merely been given a "maintenance day," although  again this could still very much be related to the hand injury he suffered on Thursday. That being said it might also be totally unrelated and all that matters at the end of the day is whether or not Brad Marchand will be able to suit up for Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final. Well, once again according to Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy, it does appear that Marchand is all set to go in Game 1 in spite of his absence form practice earlier today.

For those of who you missed the incident on Thursday Marchand appeared to injure his hand, or something in that area of his body, when he bumped into teammate Connor Clifton in front of the net. The incident went widely unreported as Marchand would get back on the ice without even missing a single shift, but in light of his absence today it has once again become relevant. The reason I suspect the injury was to his hand is Marchand could be seen flexing that hand as he skated off the ice and went to the Bruins bench, although we have never official learned what part of his body he hurt when he bumped into Clifton. 

That being said, he will be ready for Game 1 according to Cassidy.