MTL vs BOS

It's looking very likely the Montreal Canadiens will start the playoffs without their captain.

Saku Koivu, sidelined since breaking his left foot blocking a shot against the Buffalo Sabres on March 28, looks to be about a week away from making a return to the lineup. He has yet to attempt putting the foot in a skate and head coach Guy Carbonneau said his captain has some recuperation time left, even though Koivu looked quite spry while scurrying past a pack of reporters waiting to get into the Canadiens dressing room Wednesday.

"The progress is what it should have been, but we still need to wait," Carbonneau said. "Usually a bone needs two to three weeks. "I think it's (been) two weeks. We still need to wait."

Without so much as a practice under his belt for nearly two weeks, the chances of seeing Koivu in uniform for Game 1 on Thursday are slim to none.

But this is by far the best Canadiens team Koivu has played on throughout his 12-year career, and Koivu has been known to surprise people in the past. So anything is possible Thursday night.

Carbonneau even admitted as much later in his news conference Wednesday when talking about the possible return of injured Bruins forwards Marc Savard and Patrice Bergeron.

"You have to expect everything in the playoffs, because it's the playoffs," Carbonneau said. "I've never counted anybody out. It doesn't matter if they were in a wheelchair last week, there's a chance those guys will play."

Habs winger Michael Ryder, who has been practicing with a brace on his injured leg, is in for Thursday's playoff opener after missing the final two regular season games and he skated on a line with Christopher Higgins and Sergei Kostitsyn at Wednesday's practice.

The cases of defencemen Mike Komisarek (hip) and Francis Bouillon (ankle) remain in doubt, though both skated Wednesday. Komisarek looked as if he would be ready to go, moving effortlessly on the ice and seemingly skating at full speed. But he said after practice that the call is not his to make, and it appeared that if it were, he would be in uniform Thursday.

"I feel pretty good, I feel strong, I feel confident," Komisarek said. "I think it's probably more the doctor's (decision)."

Bouillon, on the other hand, looked ginger on the ice Wednesday, though it was the first time he made it through an entire practice since his injury March 29. It would be very surprising to see Bouillon in uniform for Game 1.

The Bruins practiced in Boston on Wednesday and planned to fly to Montreal later in the evening. Keeping the Bruins away from the Montreal media horde for as long as possible was probably a good move. There 's only so many times a player can hear about Boston's 0-7-1 record against the Canadiens this season before he may start believing the task of winning a seven-game series against the Habs is near impossible.

That task, however, may become easier as the Bruins also expect to get some major pieces back from injury.

Savard, out with a back injury since March 22, practiced without contact on Tuesday and was supposed to practice with contact Wednesday. Bergeron, who was cleared for full contact in practice after missing practically the entire season with a concussion, is also on the mend. He was to travel with the Bruins to Montreal on Wednesday night, and he may be ready to return for Game 2 on Saturday.

"If Patrice is ready to go, it's good news for hockey," Carbonneau said. "It's good news because he's healthy."

Much like Bruins coach Claude Julien wants to isolate his players from the Montreal zoo, as Carbonneau affectionately called it Tuesday, the Canadiens will be staying at a hotel Wednesday night to get away from distractions at home.

That will allow star winger Alex Kovalev to get away from his father Slava, who has been in town visiting since April 2 and plans to stay as long as the Habs are in the playoffs. Kovalev said his father began drawing up some diagrams with suggestions of what he should be doing on the ice while the two were relaxing watching some television before Wednesday' s practice.

"He's been doing that since I was a kid," Kovalev said. "At least now I have someone to analyze the games for me…I was always a stubborn boy, and I'm still a stubborn person. But if it works, I'll listen."

Whatever Kovalev's been doing thus far has been working just fine.