He has worn a spoked-B for nearly two decades, so it is easy to take Patrice Bergeron for granted.
Every once in a while, you’ll be reminded that though he’s been a Boston Bruin since making the team out of his very first NHL training camp at age 18 in 2003, Father Time is starting to make his move from the back of the pack. This is not to say that the 36-year-old native of Quebec City is in his final days as a player, however.
Far from it.
However, David Krejci’s decision to leave the big lights, the big game and the big money of the NHL for his native Czech Republic’s top pro league, serves as a reminder that at some point, Bergeron will bid adieu to his adopted home of Boston.
The Bruins will have to face that day when it comes, but for now, we should all enjoy every opportunity to watch the Bruins captain in his role as the franchise. Top center, future first-ballot Hall of Famer, extra coach and mentor to young players and veteran newcomers alike.
“Being there for them if they need anything,” was Bergeron’s response when recently asked about what he’s doing for the newcomers. “Especially coming in, everything is new, whether it’s the locker room, finding your way, the equipment and everything- making sure you meet all the trainers and the staff and the people that are there for us and to help us. Making sure they feel comfortable getting used to all that and having some conversations, getting to know them.”
On some teams, the captain might be more aloof or allow the newcomers to come to them versus fostering a welcoming atmosphere, but Bergeron is not the captain of other teams. He’s been a part of a positive culture in Boston that has been one of the main reasons for a lot of collective success over the nearly 20 years he’s been on the roster.
Captain courageous
It's a role he’s had here for well over a decade as defacto captain of the B’s, and although Bergeron has only worn the ‘C’ on his jersey for one season, he and Zdeno Chara had the same kind of dynamic in the Boston room that the team once enjoyed with Rick Middleton and Raymond Bourque in the mid-1980’s.
Once Chara left in 2020, the captaincy officially became Bergeron’s, much like the passing of the torch from Wayne Cashman to Terry O’Reilly almost four decades ago, but make no mistake- Bergeron has been a captain in every sense of the word for some time now.
Chris Kelly once called Bergeron “Mr. Everything” when he was his teammate here nearly a decade ago. Now, he’s one of the club’s assistant coaches, and there is zero doubt that Kelly’s opinion has changed one bit.
If you needed any more proof of his leadership by example, consider that when the first captains practice available to media was still 30 minutes from starting, Bergeron was on the ice doing skills work and shooting drills with teammate Charlie Coyle.
At this stage of his career, no one would have even given it a second thought if Bergeron wasn’t out there. Instead, we are left with the realization that his relentless pursuit of excellence isn’t lip service. It’s his way of life and always has been.
“It’s completely up to him…”
How long Bergeron will keep playing is one of the more intriguing (and for some tragic) storylines emerging with this franchise going forward.
He’s in the final season of an eight-year, $55 million contract he signed in 2013. Recently, he made it clear he would not discuss his next contract, focusing instead on the 2021-22 campaign.
Perhaps glass half empty people might see this as a sign that he’s contemplating retirement. It seems inconceivable that he would go anywhere else as a player. At the same time, Bourque and even Chara, who came to Boston ten years into his NHL career with the NY Islanders and Ottawa Senators, seemed to be Bruins for life. Bourque raised a Stanley Cup and turned out the lights on a Hall of Fame career wearing a Colorado Avalanche sweater. Chara will also hang up his skates wearing another team's colors.
And then there is Tom Brady, whose legacy as the greatest quarterback of all time is cemented with the New England Patriots, left his team. Bergeron is similar to Brady, in that his most productive years have come later in his career than in his prime 20’s. Brady felt he had more to prove, and left the Patriots for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to prove it.
While the two are cut from the same very special cloth, Bergeron is not Brady. With 1,143 career games plus 917 points and counting, we can only hope and believe that he will always remain a Bruin.
Many see his reticence to engage in public discussions about his future with the team beyond the immediate urgency of what is in front of him a sign of his grace and class. It’s a symbol of his commitment to the team, the team, and only the team. Rather than create any kind of wedge issue or muddy the waters with comments that could be left open to interpretation, he just shut it down. Even if you might not respect that position, make no mistake- his teammates and the Bruins organization sure do.
Brad Marchand is his closest friend on the club, and he put it pretty succinctly this week.
“You see the level he’s playing at,” said Marchand. “He’s still the best two-way forward in the league. Getting robbed every year for the Selke. It’s completely up to him.”
Even if the recent voting snubs by the hockey media are galling, you can bet that Bergeron isn’t all that interested in keeping score. There’s only one trophy he’s interested in. He raised it overhead 10 years ago. He only has so many chances to recapture Lord Stanley again as a player.
Winners win, so don’t count him (or another Selke Trophy) out.
Another x-factor in Froden?
Although he’s on the bubble to make the club coming out of camp, the rigors of a long NHL season usually take a toll and when inevitable injuries occur, watch for Froden to get one of the first cracks at stepping in. He’s up against it on paper to crack Boston’s depth chart up front, but a strong preseason will make things interesting.
Bruce Cassidy didn’t hesitate when asked about Froden’s potential to be a help to the Boston roster at some point this season, even if it doesn’t happen right away.
“I think he’s a smart player; he reads off two elite players and hasn’t slowed them down at all,” the B's head coach said of Froden’s early camp time on a line with Bergeron and Marchand. “What I’m hearing from our guys is that this kid is pretty good. That’s when you know. The eye test is there, but the feedback is better.”
Cassidy acknowledged that Froden being 27 and having played a lot of pro hockey overseas put him in position to be the most productive player at the prospects event last week with four goals in two games, but that we still have to see how he will adjust to the North American game.
“I’m not going to anoint him into our lineup or anything like that,” he said. “He’s here to make progress and build everyday and he’s done that.”
Prospect Corner: Svedeback saving it
In 2017, the B’s used their fourth-round selection to take Jeremy Swayman.
Four years later, they went with another under-the-radar goalie fourth-rounder in Swedish import Philip Svedeback, and the early returns are in after watching him play for the USHL’s Dubuque Fighting Saints in the preseason and Fall Classic event in Pittsburgh.
New England Hockey Journal had a chance to talk briefly with him between games on Saturday, and he expressed excitement to be in the U.S. playing against top junior competition. He marveled at the speed, physicality and skill of the players he’s gone up against.
Also like Swayman, Svedeback is closing in on college options closer to Boston than anywhere else. The field is narrowing and it looks like the traditional Hockey East powers are all in the mix to land the talented netminder. That’s good news for Bruins fans who won’t have to travel far to keep tabs on him, and if he can eventually develop on a similar track to the former Mike Richter award winner and Hockey East MVP, the B’s will be in good shape.
We’re not comparing Svedeback to Swayman, but it isn’t hard to see what prompted the B’s to take a swing on a relatively unknown second-year eligible European goalie. He won’t be unknown for much longer.
