David Bolland isn't close to returning to Leafs lineup

All you have to do is watch David Bolland skate the last few days to know he isn’t close to returning to the Toronto Maple Leafs lineup.

Each twirl on the ice this week has come with a familiar sight – a pained look of frustration and hurt on the 27 year olds face.

Yes David Bolland is back on the ice – for the first time since suffering a partially torn tendon on his left ankle in November 2 after Vancouver forward Zack Kassian accidentally cut him – but he is not ready to play in a game anytime soon.

“Who knows,” said Bolland, asked when he expects to return to the lineup.

And when he does return, Leafs fans would be wise to temper expectations. It will be a while before the “old” David Bolland returns.

To say the rehab process has been difficult would be an understatement.

“When you’re watching and you’re off the ice, it does screw with your head a lot mentally,” he said before Toronto hosted Montreal at Air Canada Centre. “I think when you cut a tendon it’s a big deal. You never know. You have that in the back of your head – when you’re going to come back and what’s going to happen – and you do get a little mentally broken down.”

He has been re-learning how to pivot and cross over on his skates.

"It’s not fun, it’s gruelling,” said Bolland.

“You think some days you can push and then you push it too much and you set yourself behind,” he added. “You’re just hurting yourself. I think for myself it’s being patient.”

Maple Leafs head coach Randy Carlyle said on Saturday, Bolland won’t return to the lineup until he is 100 percent healthy.

“We can’t afford to take any type of risk with this type of injury,” said Carlyle. “We all know that it’s a tough one to come back from – it’s a long tedious process – and specifically where it was and the tendon that was injury. It’s pretty dramatic.”

With Bolland in the lineup, the Leafs won 10 of the first 14 games of the season. Without him, the team hasn’t been as tough to play against.

And when Bolland does return, Leafs fans will have to brace for the fact he won’t be the same player – right away- if ever.