Patrice Bergeron

Patrice Bergeron
Position	Centre
Shoots	Right
Height Weight	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 194 lb (88 kg)
NHL Team	Boston Bruins
Nationality	Canadian
Born	(1985-07-24)July 24, 1985, Ancienne Lorette, QC, CAN
NHL Draft	45th overall, 2003 Boston Bruins
Pro Career	2003 – present

Patrice Bergeron (born July 24, 1985) is a Canadian professional ice hockey centre and alternate captain currently playing for the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League (NHL).

Bergeron was drafted in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft by the Boston Bruins 45th overall. During his rookie season, Bergeron was selected for the NHL YoungStars game in Minnesota.

At the end of the season, Bergeron was selected to play for the Canadian Senior Men's team to compete in Prague, Czech Republic at the World Championships, where they won the gold medal. During the 2004–05 NHL lockout, Bergeron played for the Providence Bruins of the American Hockey League (AHL) before heading to North Dakota to play for the Canadian Under-20 team at the 2005 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships. He finished the tournament with 5 goals and 8 assists totalling 13 points over 6 games. He scored a goal in Canada's 6–1 Gold Medal victory over Russia. Bergeron finished the tournament as its leading scorer, MVP (Most Valuable Player) and All-Star team honours. Bergeron is also the first player to win a Senior Men's Gold Medal before winning a Junior one.

In his second season, Bergeron, only 20 years old, led the Bruins with 31 goals and 73 points, and finished second on the team with 42 assists. Following the season, he again played for Canada at the Senior Men's World Championships, finishing 2nd to teammate Sidney Crosby in tournament scoring with 14 points.

Bergeron was once again invited to play for Canada in the World Championships. He declined, citing that he wanted to recover and avoid any future injuries.

Concussion and subsequent recuperation

On October 27, 2007, Bergeron was hit from behind by Philadelphia Flyers defenceman Randy Jones, in the deep corner of the rink, his head slamming hard into the boards. He was knocked unconscious and lay motionless on the ice for a few minutes before being wheeled off on a stretcher and taken to Massachusetts General Hospital. According to NESN, he suffered a broken nose and a 'Grade III' concussion, while Jones received a two-game suspension by the NHL. Some have assigned some blame for this hit to Bergeron, for his having retrieved the puck in a dangerous manner, i.e., turning back to his left after curling to the right, leaving himself face-first into the boards, while others have criticized Jones for not pulling up when Bergeron turned back, for hitting too high, and for driving Bergeron's head into the boards.

On November 8, 2007, Bergeron made his first public statements regarding the injury from the October 27 game.

On January 19, 2008, after speculation of Bergeron's return during the 2007–2008 season, the Boston Globe reported that he had been sent on a vacation by Boston Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli. This article also said that Patrice had regressed, his symptoms had returned, and that he would most likely sit out for the remainder of the season.

In very early March 2008, Patrice started preliminary on-ice practice exercises with a hockey stick and pucks, designed to continue his recovery from his injury, and was observed shooting pucks at fellow Bruin, goaltender Manny Fernandez, who had himself been recovering from knee surgery. He steadily progressed through non-contact practice, into full contact practice sessions as of April 7, and was almost ready for playoff action for the first round of the 2007–08 Stanley Cup playoffs against the Bruins' traditional arch-rivals, the Montreal Canadiens, but was held back by team doctors. In mid-June 2008, Bergeron returned to his usual off-season routine of working out vigorously with six-day-a-week training sessions. He was also reported as being totally free of any symptoms of the concussion and was back up to an 86 kg (190 lbs.) body weight, only some 2-to-3 kg (4-6 lb) under his weight at the time of the injury.

During the early summer of 2008, Bergeron was again working out with goalie Fernandez as part of the team's second annual summer "development camp", which is usually reserved for the Bruins' prospects and recent draft picks. Bergeron had, as of September 12, 2008, started practicing on-ice at the Bruins' Boston area training rink, and entered training camp at the Bruins' training facility within a week.

Bergeron finally returned to NHL play with the Bruins during the 2008-09 pre-season schedule, scoring one goal and three assists in the opening pre-season game on September 22, 2008 against the Montreal Canadiens, an 8-3 victory over the Canadiens, played in "neutral territory" in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

On December 20, 2008, in a game against the Carolina Hurricanes, Bergeron went down after finishing a check on Carolina's Dennis Seidenberg with what appeared to be a neck or head injury. Bergeron lay face down on the ice while being attended to by team trainers and eventually left the ice under his own power, though he did not return to the game. He was diagnosed with another concussion and placed on the Injured Reserve, though he was released from the hospital the day after his collision with Seidenberg.

Career statistics

				Regular season						Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
2001–02	Acadie-Bathurst Titan	QMJHL		4	0	1	1	0		—	—	—	—	—
2002–03	Acadie-Bathurst Titan	QMJHL		70	23	50	73	62		11	6	7	15	6
2003–04	Boston Bruins	NHL		71	16	23	39	22		7	1	3	4	0
2004–05	Providence Bruins	AHL		68	21	40	61	59		16	5	7	12	4
2005–06	Boston Bruins	NHL		81	31	42	73	22		—	—	—	—	—
2006–07	Boston Bruins	NHL		77	22	48	70	26		—	—	—	—	—
2007–08	Boston Bruins	NHL		10	3	4	7	2		—	—	—	—	—
2008–09	Boston Bruins	NHL		64	8	31	39	16		11	0	5	5	11
NHL totals				303	80	148	228	88		18	1	8	9	11

International play

Played for Canada in:

• 2004 World Championships (gold medal)
• 2005 World Junior Championships (gold medal)
• 2006 World Championships

International statistics

Year	Team	Event		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
2004	Canada	WC		9	1	0	1	4
2005	Canada	WJC		6	5	8	13	6
2006	Canada	WC		9	6	8	14	2
Senior int'l totals				18	7	8	15	6

External links

• Patrice Bergeron's career stats at The Internet Hockey Database
• Patrice Bergeron's NHL player profile