It seems that we are in a situation where it is difficult to distinguish who is telling the truth.
You may have heard about how the Boston Bruins were blown away by starting Linus Ollmark when he wasn’t quite healthy in the first round of their Stanley Cup series against the Florida Panthers, which the latter would eventually win in seven games.
Coach Jim Montgomery’s decision to wait until game seven of the series to give backup Jeremy Swaiman his first appearance in the series drew some criticism. The Boston bench chief almost stated that if he had known what he knows now, he would have moved from Allmark to Swiman sooner.
However, a story from current NHL goaltender and commentator Kevin Weekes, who claimed on social media that Ollmark was playing with a “debilitating” injury, added fuel to the fire:
Like all teams; my sources are telling me shortly that Vezina G Ullmark was playing through a debilitating and painful injury that limited his movement and technique.
But Bruins general manager Don Sweeney disputes Weekes’ claims, claiming Allmark was healthy and cleared to play according to the club’s medical records, while also hinting that the information was more related to the injury to captain Patrice Bergeron.
“I will make it clear that we get a medical report every day as an organization and from what is available to us, so the ‘debilitating and traumatic injury’ statement is probably more relevant to Patrice Bergeron and his injury,” Sweeney said. “Again, we get reports on who is available and Linus was fully available to play. He had something that was going on in the season, but it was clear for him to play. If it hadn’t been, we would definitely have made a different decision. We’ve been very comfortable all year.” With the rotation we had and we had confidence in both goalkeepers.”
Even if the Bruins staff decided Ollmark was fit to play, it was clear he wasn’t the one. Who is telling the truth in this case? And if Sweeney’s account is correct, does that mean that whoever expressed that allmark is fully available made a mistake?