Patrice Bergeron Has An Excellent Playoff Piece In The Player's Tribune
Read the full piece, “Back Where We Belong,” here
Zdeno Chara wears the C but from what I’ve heard, Patrice Bergeron is the leader of the Boston Bruins. That’s not a knock on Z, not by a long shot, but I’ve read that he’s more of the lead by example guy and Bergy is the vocal one. When he talks, everyone listens. I don’t get to sit in the locker room so when he writes, I listen. Couldn’t click this story fast enough.
Shockingly, it didn’t disappoint.
You’ll have to click to read the full story but some highlights that really stuck out to me:
1. Patrice Bergeron is a bad man.
Hockey players are tougher than anyone and blah blah blah. I don’t say the blah blahs because it’s not true, it’s just something everyone’s heard by now. Nonetheless, it’s always remarkable when you hear it from the horse’s mouth. Bergy couldn’t walk in 2013 without getting the wind knocked out of him, he had a cracked rib, torn cartilage, and a punctured lung… any one of those injuries would have me lamed up for no less than 15 years and probably begging for death… but Patrice Bergeron never had the idea of sitting out cross his mind.
That’s all man, baby.
2. Bergeron really had some language problems when he first came here
Again, not news. Anyone who saw Bergeron when he was 18 knows he wasn’t exactly a linguist at the time, but two things that stuck out for me here:
1. That shit about just ordering whatever the person next to you had so you didn’t have to speak was really fucking sad. Bergeron’s not the first immigrant to have to deal with that problem, but I love him so it hits closer to home.
2. I love how he just knew “the basics” when he got here. You know what those are. Hello, goodbye, thank you, and backcheck. Backcheck is a “basic” in Patrice Bergeron’s vernacular. Doesn’t get more Bergeron than that, give him the Selke just for that.
3. Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand are BFFs
They are the perfect odd couple, the quiet assassin and the loudest guy in the room, and I couldn’t possibly love both of them more.
Also, Marchand’s chirps to young players is LOL funny. Kill them with kindness and then rip their hearts out as you skate away. Brutal.
Anyway, read the whole article. It’s awesome and has me feeling very emotional. The thing that stuck out the most to me was how this shit really means as much to Bergeron as it does to us. In sports a lot we talk about how fans probably care more than a lot of players, we grew up with it and it’s a job for them and a means to take care of their family, that’s not the case for Patrice Bergeron. From the teams he grew up on and the fans in the city he’s understood that it’s only about one thing, success.
“And now we’re back, it just feels right.”