It's only been six weeks, but this has already become the Season of the Injury for the Bruins.

BOSTON — Immediately after their season-opening win over the Flyers on Oct. 8, the Bruins boarded a plane for a game the next night in Detroit.

Gregory Campbell and David Krejci, however, did not make the trip.

The centers were on injured reserve and weren’t traveling. While their teammates lost to the Red Wings 2-1 at Joe Louis Arena, Campbell and Krejci got together to watch on television.

“We’re buddies off the ice, so you just feel it’s good to connect with somebody going through the same thing,” said Campbell, who had an abdominal issue at the time. “We're a family in here and you have that support staff of everybody, but if somebody's out and going through the same thing, it's good to connect and show support for your team.”

It’s only been six weeks, but this has already become the Season of the Injury for the Bruins.

Zdeno Chara has missed four weeks with a torn knee ligament. Krejci has been in and out of the lineup with a mysterious ailment. Torey Krug broke his pinky and sat out four games. Krug’s replacement, David Warsofsky, strained his groin. Brad Marchand did not travel to Columbus on Thursday with an undisclosed issue, and will miss his second straight game.

Some good news has come from Kevan Miller, who will play his first game Friday since dislocating his shoulder over a month ago. Naturally, as soon as Miller was cleared, Adam McQuaid broke his thumb on a blocked shot and is sidelined through Christmas.

“It doesn’t seem like we can get healthy,” team principal Charlie Jacobs said Thursday.

Hockey players are trained to think team-first. It’s part of the institution, to sacrifice your body for the team, to block shots and hit and fight.

Then something goes wrong, there’s a trip to the medical room, and you’re no longer part of the team you just laid yourself out for. Or at least, it can feel that way.

“It is hard to feel a part of the team,” Campbell said. “It's not because the team does not support you or isn't on your side. It's just the fact that you're not involved in the battle, day in, day out.”

When the team is at home, there are different schedules — one for the team and one for the players who have to stay off the ice.

Road trips are the hardest part. It’s a lonely feeling, with teammates and friends preparing for games while the injured player can only rehab, wait and watch. Krejci said it’s easy to feel “kind of left behind.”

Krejci watched that one game with Campbell, but when he stayed at home last week while the Bruins were getting pummeled in Toronto and Montreal, he sat on the couch by himself, clicker in hand.

“I don't like to go somewhere to watch it,” Krejci said. “I like to hear what the commentator has to say. I'm just watching, I'm at home. I tune out everything, my wife, everything. I'm just watching the game. If they're winning or losing, it's really tough to watch.

“You want to be there. It's fun to be part of the winning team, but also if you're losing, sometimes going through tough times makes you stronger. You want to be with those guys no matter what.”

On Friday, the Bruins are in Columbus. Instead of playing, former Bruin and current Blue Jacket Nathan Horton is deciding whether to have likely career-ending back surgery. Horton has played just 35 games since signing with Columbus, none this year. He is at the extreme end of being out of the loop, and has described himself to the Columbus Dispatch as a "ghost" in the Jackets' dressing room.

Milan Lucic has been among the lucky Bruins this season, bouncing back from offseason wrist surgery to play in all 20 games so far. Five years ago, Lucic was not so lucky.

On Oct. 16, 2009, Lucic broke his finger in a game at Dallas and missed a month. He came back Nov. 19, and less than a week later, a high-ankle sprain sent him back out of the lineup. Lucic missed the Winter Classic at Fenway Park and 32 games total.

"I was injured so much that year, it was very humbling I would say," Lucic said. "I always tell people, you take being healthy for granted until you're in a position like that and you really start to cherish your body and keeping yourself healthy. I missed 32 games that year. I played six games, was out for five weeks, fourth game back and boom, I was out again. So it felt like I was out for 13 straight weeks.

"It almost feels like you're not even a part of the team because you're on completely different schedules. I think since then I've taken a lot more time and I guess pride in keeping myself healthy to be able to play night-in and night-out."

When a road trip is over, there’s a call to the injured player from teammates who have returned home, an invite for dinner or to watch a football game. It helps, but of course, there’s little other than support they can provide, which is why the news of McQuaid’s injury was hard to hear for teammates.

McQuaid played just 30 games last season with various lower-body issues, and he stayed in the Boston area over the summer to be sure he was 100 percent.

Then, a fluke bounce hit his thumb and he’s out 6-8 weeks.

“You feel bad for a guy like that because he’s hurt and you respect him a lot for what he does to get back,” coach Claude Julien said.

The new reality for McQuaid, as it has been for Chara, is that of observer. For home games, it's a suit and tie in the press box. When the team hits the road, there will be rehab sessions with only strength and conditioning coach John Whitesides as company.

The players that have been left on the ice amid this pile of broken bones and torn ligaments have performed capably. Since Chara’s injury, the Bruins are 8-3-0, mostly grinding out ugly victories.

Not that it’s too much help for those sitting on a couch, watching the season they’d trained all summer for playing out on their HD screen.

“I’m kind of like a quiet guy (watching the games). No matter what happens, I’m calm,” Krejci said, before pausing. “But it’s eating you alive.”

Dan Cagen can be reached at 508-626-3848 or dcagen@wickedlocal.com. Follow him on Twitter @DanCagen.