Patrice Bergeron

At 38 years old, Patrice Bergeron has this physical status:

Playing career

Bergeron grew up in his hometown, L'Ancienne-Lorette, Quebec, and was a Quebec Nordiques fan in his youth. Bergeron was mainly an A and AA player during his minor hockey years. He competed in the 1998 and 1999 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournaments with a minor ice hockey team from Sainte-Foy, Quebec City. He was drafted in the fifth round of the 2001 QMJHL Draft out of AAA Bantam hockey with the Sainte-Foy Gouverneurs. He played A hockey for the Séminaire St-François Blizzard for a year before turning to the Acadie-Bathurst Titan of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League in Acadie, Quebec.

In the 2003 NHL Entry Draft by the Boston Bruins, Bergeron was drafted 45th overall. He was chosen for the NHL YoungStars Game in Minnesota as part of the 2004 All-Star Weekend in Minnesota during his rookie season. He scored 39 points in 71 games during his rookie season. In a 4–3 Boston road win over October 18, 2003, his first NHL goal was against the Los Angeles Kings. In Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Quarter-Finals against the Montreal Canadiens, he would then score the overtime goal.

Bergeron played for Boston's minor league affiliate, the Providence Bruins of the American Hockey League (AHL), earning 61 points in 68 games, despite the 2004-05 NHL lockout.

Bergeron led the Bruins with a career-high 31 goals and 73 points as the NHL resumed the following season. He spent the majority of the season with linemates Brad Boyes and Marco Sturm, who had been traded in a trade that brought captain Joe Thornton to the San Jose Sharks in November 2005. Mike O'Connell, the general manager of the Newcastle Bruins, remembered in a June 2011 interview that the team had made the decision to build the team around Bergeron rather than Thornton, preferring the former's on-and-off-ice image. Bergeron was selected by the Bruins to receive the team's 7th Player Award at the end of the year as the player who had exceeded expectations. With 22 goals and 48 assists, playing under Dave Lewis's new head coach's defensive system, he had his second straight 70-point campaign in 2006–07, posting 22 goals and 48 assists. He spent time with Sturm and Boyes before being cut early in the season. Bergeron was hampered by a persistent shoulder injury for the majority of the season.

Bergeron sustained a season-ending head injury in the first ten games of the 2007-08 season, scoring three goals and four assists in the first ten games of the 2007–08 season. Bergeron, a Philadelphia Flyers defenceman, struck his head on the end-boards, knocking him unconscious. He lay motionless on the ice for several minutes before being carried on a stretcher and admitted to Massachusetts General Hospital, where he was diagnosed with a broken nose and a grade-three concussion. Jones was suspended from the NHL for two games. On November 8, Bergeron made his first public statements regarding the accident, saying he would not take any legal action and that Jones had attempted to contact him to apologize.

Bergeron had been sent on a holiday by then Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli, and he would likely miss the remainder of the season if his recovery hadn't slowed. Bergeron began on-ice training with Bruins goaltender Manny Fernandez, who was recovering from knee surgery. He gradually progressed to full-contact sessions in early-April, aiming for a playoff return against the Montreal Canadiens in the first round, but team doctors held him off. Bergeron was symptom-free during off-season training in June 2008. He spent time with Fernandez in the Bruins' summer training camp (typically for Bruins prospects). He returned to action with the Bruins against the Montreal Canadiens in September 22, 2008, an 8–3 victory played in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.

Bergeron scored his first goal since concussion in a 4–2 home loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on October 23, 2008. Bergeron collided with opposition defender Dennis Seidenberg, suffering another concussion two months later during a game against the Carolina Hurricanes on December 20, 2008. He lay face down on the ice after being treated by team coaches and then left the ice under his own authority. He was released from the hospital the day after and was put on injured reserve. (Seidenberg and Bergeron became teammates on the Bruins after Byron Bitz' trade to the Florida Panthers in 2010 to acquire Seidenberg.) Bergeron returned from being sidelined for one month and finished the season with 39 points in 64 games. Bergeron made his first appearance in the 2009 Stanley Cup playoffs, battling alongside Josh Gorges of Montreal.

Bergeron scored 52 points when playing on a line with winger Mark Recchi in 2009-2010. In 14 games, he scored 4 goals and 7 assists for 11 points. In a Bruins win over the Ottawa Senators on January 11, 2011, Bergeron earned his first NHL hat-trick in his first appearance in the sport. In January 2011, Bergeron was named as the NHL's First Star of the Month and twice named First Star of the Week. In Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Quarter-Finals, Bergeron has appeared in two postseason fights in his entire NHL career. Josh Gorges came out and hit Bergeron in the jaw, and Bergeron retaliated by punching Gorges twice. This was seen as a major catalyst for the series. In Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Pittsburgh Penguins on June 1, 2013, the second occurred. Malkin and Evgeni Malkin began squaring off at center ice, with Malkin knocking off Bergeron's helmet before they threw off their gloves to fight. And as referees attempted to distinguish the two people, they continued to throw blows, even as referees attempted to separate them.

In Game 4 of the 2011 playoffs against Philadelphia, Bergeron was once more concussed after a volley from Claude Giroux on May 6, 2011. It is said to have been a mild concussion that kept him out of the third round of the playoffs. Alexandre Burrows of the Vancouver Canucks allegedly bit Bergeron's finger on June 1, 2011, with the Boston Bruins. No penalty was called and the NHL did not fine or suspend Burrows because the suspected bite was not backed up by any evidence other than a video of Burrows biting Bergeron's glove when his hand was still inside it and bite marks on Bergeron's finger.

Bergeron became the 26th member of the Triple Gold Club on June 15, 2011, when the Bruins won their sixth Stanley Cup. In Game 7 of the Vancouver Canucks' championship series, he scored two goals, including the game (and series) champion. Bergeron is identified by his birth name, Patrice Bergeron-Cleary, on the Stanley Cup. Bergeron's regular defensive efforts on the ice earned him the Frank J. Selke Trophy as the NHL's top defensive forward for the 2011–12 season after the close of the 2012 NHL playoffs, even with the Bruins team eliminated in the first round by the Washington Capitals.

Bergeron's first campaign in Selke Trophy voting for the second season in a row, with tie- and game-winning goals against the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game 7 of Round 1, as well as the overtime winner against the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 3. When playing through a punctured lung, broken shoulder, broken rib, and a broken nose, Bergeron was also known in the hockey world for displaying his toughness.

On July 12, 2013, the Boston Bruins re-signed Bergeron to an eight-year, $52 million ($6.5 million per year) contract extension. Bergeron made the President's Trophy for the second time in his career, scoring a total of 30 goals and 32 assists in the two seasons. Bergeron received his second Frank J. Selke Trophy and the NHL Foundation Player Award for his efforts during the regular season as well as the NHL Foundation Player Award. In the same ceremony, he was named as the cover athlete for the NHL 15 video game.

As Bergeron continued to play with the Bruins for the 2014–15 season, he scored his 200th career goal on February 23, 2015, when the Bruins defeated the Chicago Blackhawks 6–2. Bergeron, who has played for his entire NHL career as a member of the Bruins since 2003, became the 16th player in franchise history to reach 200 or more career goals for the team.

Bergeron's play during the 2016–17 season was hampered by a sports hernia that happened a few weeks earlier in the season but wasn't announced until April 25, 2017. Bergeron's sports hernia was operated on May 8, 2017, and he was supposed to be able to attend the Bruins' training camp before the 2017–18 season began. Bergeron scored four goals, including Bergeron's first-ever natural hat trick in his NHL career, at 7–1 home win over the Carolina Hurricanes on January 6, 2018, bringing his total score (goals/assists combined) to 722 in his NHL playing career. In a 5–2 victory over the New York Islanders on January 18, Bergeron recorded his third hat-trick of his career (and second of the season). Bergeron suffered a bone in his foot two days later against the host Toronto Maple Leafs on February 24 and will be out of action for two weeks pending further investigation. Bergeron had been able to begin training with the team by March 19. On March 25, Bergeron was cleared to play in the Bruins' road game against the Minnesota Wild, giving assist on each of the goals scored in the Bruins' 2–1 overtime victory.

Bergeron scored two goals in his 1,000th NHL game against the visiting New York Islanders on February 5, 2019. Bruins' 2-0 win over the visiting Columbus Blue Jackets on March 16, 2019. Bergeron was nominated for the Selke Trophy for the eighth straight season on April 17, 2019.

Bergeron was proclaimed the captain of the Boston Bruins on January 7, 2021. Zdeno Chára, the team's captain since 2006, had signed with the Washington Capitals just two weeks before.

Bergeron ranked fourth on the Boston Bruins' all-time scoring list with 917 goals and 542 assists) at the end of the 2020–21 regular season. Ray Bourque, Johnny Bucyk, and Phil Esposito are the only ones he knows. Bergeron was selected for the Selke Trophy for the tenth straight season, only days before the New York Islanders' removal from the 2021 playoffs; however, Bergeron would instead win the Mark Messier Leadership Award for the 2020–21 season; for outstanding leadership; and for service to the general population.

Bergeron did not score his first Bruins goal of the season until his eighth game of the 2021-2222 regular season. Patrice scored his second natural hat trick and seventh hat trick overall in his NHL career on November 4, as the foundation for the Bruins' four-goal game against the Red Wings. The Carolina Hurricanes knocked the Bruins out of the first round of the 2022 Stanley Cup playoffs. Bergeron's deal came to an end, as well as his age and history of injuries, there was a lot of uncertainty as to whether he's going to stay with the team. He refused to play for any other team, saying he would either re-sign or retire. Bergeron was once more nominated for the Selke Trophy, and it was revealed on June 5, 2022, that he had been voted for the record-breaking fifth time.

Bergeron signed a one-year deal with the Bruins on August 8, 2022, marking his return to the Bruins for his 19th season.

Source

Awards, honours and records

• Member of the Triple Gold Club
• Scored the Stanley Cup-winning goal, 2011
• Voted the cover athlete for EA Sports' NHL 15 video game
• NHL All-Decade Second Team 2010–2019