What is certain about Ference, however, is how he can perform when he’s healthy. From Claude Julien’s perspective, that’s pretty darn well.
“There was a point last year when we talked about him being probably our best defenseman,’’ said the Bruins coach. “That’s what he’s capable of being - a real, real good defenseman when he’s healthy and he’s on his game. With his mobility and his vision, even though he’s a defenseman who’s small in stature, he’s not afraid to mix it up and he’s not afraid to drop the gloves either.
“He brings a lot and he’s a very intelligent player. He makes a lot of smart plays and has great hockey sense. If this guy was a 6-foot-3 type of player, he’d probably be recognized more as a superstar defenseman in this league.’’
At the start of last season, with Zdeno Chara still finding his rhythm following offseason shoulder surgery, Julien leaned heavily on Ference. The mobile defenseman responded. Over the first 15 games of 2008-09, Ference recorded seven assists while averaging 22:43 of ice time per appearance, third-most behind Chara and Dennis Wideman. On Nov. 1, in perhaps the most entertaining match of the season (the bloodbath against Dallas), Ference dropped Sean Avery with an open-ice clock-cleaning, then took on the mouthy forward in a gloves-off bout.
So it’s no surprise that in the second round of the playoffs against Carolina, when Ference played only three times because of the groin injury suffered April 4, the Bruins missed his hard-nosed, puck-moving play.
Injuries regularly have limited Ference since he arrived with Chuck Kobasew from Calgary on Feb. 10, 2007, for Brad Stuart, Wayne Primeau, and a fourth-round pick. In 2007-08, Ference missed four games because of a core injury. He suffered a right knee sprain that knocked him out for 12 games. Ference then went down for seven more games with another sprained knee.
