By Danny Picard
CSNNE.com
WILMINGTON -- Tuesday marked the Bruins' first practice since the Marco Sturm trade was made official, pending a physical with the Los Angeles Kings.
In case you're wondering about the results of that physical, Bruins coach Claude Julien said everything has been "taken care of" with regards to fixing the team's tight salary cap situation. So Sturm and his 3.5 million contract are officially out of their hands, and the current group of Bruins can skate with that weight off their shoulders.
Still, Julien emphasized it's only December and just because the Bruins have seemingly resolved their salary cap issues, that doesn't mean this has to be the final roster.
"For a player, it certainly has to give them a little bit of relief, as far as saying, 'OK, all these question marks have been answered,' " said Julien after Tuesday's practice. "But at the same time, I think, the players have to realize, too, that just because we're there now, doesn't mean we're going to stay there, if we don't get the results we want.
"You're always fighting for a spot in the lineup. You're always fighting to keep your job, and you're always fighting to stay on the team. So I think that part should stay the same. But at the same time, what's been lingering over their heads, now, more or less, has been taken care of."
All Bruins were present at Tuesday's practice -- the team's first practice since Saturday night's overtime loss to the Flyers -- including defenseman Adam McQuaid, who took a vicious hit from behind from Philadelphia's Jody Shelley on Saturday night.
Boston Bruins
Shelley was suspended for two games, but skated on Tuesday. Julien said McQuaid was "still a little stiff" but not stiff enough to be out of the lineup on Wednesday night in Buffalo.
"The league obviously took it serious enough to suspend him, and you've got to respect that," said Julien.
Danny Picard is on Twitter at http:twitter.comDannyPicard. You can listen to Danny on his streaming radio show I'm Just Sayin'Monday-Friday from 9-10 a.m. on CSNNE.com.