Bergeron expects to be ready
Patrice Bergeron is not quite 100 percent, but with Bruins training camp on the horizon, he feels like he’s getting close.
Still recovering from hernia surgery in early May, Bergeron has been skating with teammates and other local pros. Because of the surgery, he began his offseason ice work about a month later than he normally does. His stops and starts looked crisp in 3-on-3 drills yesterday, and he expects to be ready for full contact when the main camp opens Sept. 14.
There’s still work to be done, however.
“It’s a little bit of conditioning, but I think I’ve been working on that a lot,” he said. “Obviously when you’re not able to get into the gym and on the ice earlier in the summer, I feel a little bit like the endurance and the strength is something I have to work on, so everything is kind of behind in that way.
“But it’s not like it’s a huge step back for me, with the way I feel on the ice. I feel like it’s more about continuing in treatments and getting rid of the scar tissue that’s there, which is still restricting me in some of the stuff I do. But stops and starts are fine. It’s just a little bit of the restriction that needs to go away at some point.”
Bergeron first started to feel the strain in his midsection when he was playing for Canada in the World Cup of Hockey last summer, but he did not feel it was so bad that it would restrict him in any way for the B’s season. But after re-aggravating an ankle injury he originally suffered the previous season in a fight with Winnipeg’s Blake Wheeler, he was forced to miss the first three games of the 2016-17 campaign. Bergeron felt he did the real damage soon after he returned from the ankle injury.
“That’s when I really popped it, and it got worse during the year,” he said.
Bergeron missed just those three contests, and his two-way game remained at a high level. He captured his record-tying fourth Selke Award, but his offensive numbers were off, especially early in the season. After scoring a career-high 32 goals in 2015-16, he dropped to 21 last season.
“You don’t want to blame everything on (the hernia),” he said. “There were a lot of unlucky bounces. I had a lot of shots and a lot of chances, and the puck wasn’t going in. Is it really the hernia? Do you have to blame it on that? You’re a professional, and you can’t blame all that on the injury.
“But at the same time, it was restricting me a little bit in my skating and the way I was able to push off to get in the play to be on offense. I might have been a little late sometimes. Hopefully now that it’s behind me, I can be back feeling good and skating well.”
What kind of team the 2017-18 Bruins will be is anyone’s guess. There is a youth movement afoot. Not only are they expected to start with a second-year player (Brandon Carlo) and rookie (Charlie McAvoy) on defense, there are forward spots open throughout the lineup, including the top six. The 32-year-old Bergeron could find himself skating with Brad Marchand and a rookie like Anders Bjork or Jake DeBrusk. Coach Bruce Cassidy has said he wants to talk with the veterans to make sure they are all-in on bringing the kids along.
“I still feel pretty young, so I want to be on board with that youth movement,” Bergeron sad with a grin. “It’s great. We have some really good young talent that are pushing for spots and can help us be a competitive team. You see a lot of teams doing that, and Pittsburgh is a great example.
“I’ve always said I don’t care who I play with. Hopefully, the left side (Brad Marchand) is not going to change. But on the right, we’ve had a lot of different guys, and we have to make it work and find a way. Ultimately, we want to win, and we’re a team.”
Another candidate for Bergeron’s right wing is the guy who played there much of last season, David Pastrnak, who still is working through his agent to get a long-term deal done with the B’s. Camp is fast approaching, and Pastrnak remains unsigned. The B’s have offered a deal worth $6 million annually, though the extension Leon Draisaitl signed with Edmonton (eight years, $8.5 million per season) gives the agent ammunition to ask for more.
“I’m not necessarily concerned,” Bergeron said. “It’s one of those things that they have to go through. You don’t want to blame anyone. There are things that happen in the summer, and I’m sure (Pastrnak) feels a certain way. But I let (general manager Don Sweeney) handle that stuff. We’ll see what happens.”