Bergeron may be ready to retire, but Bruins fans hope not
The white clock tower that stood atop Arlington High School since 1937 was torn down the other day.
After 85 years, it ran out of time. Before Arlington became a coven for Moonbats, it was a middleclass American enclave. Arlingtonians were once a mixture of first- and second-generation Americans, mingled with those whose ancestors fought in the Revolution or Civil War.
Since Paul Revere rode through town in 1775, Arlington has been synonymous with hockey. The sport remains integral in its DNA. Pat Connaughton notwithstanding.
Arlington is where I grew to love hockey during the 1970s and 80s. Channel 38 was fixed on the outdoor antenna. Those of us who lacked the talent to compete on the ice played on the street. Our games ended because of either darkness or due to a drive-by visit from the local constabulary. Much like the modern-day Boston Bruins, those Arlington Police ran on Dunkin. When they built a new station on Mystic Street back in the day, it was conveniently located 350 feet from the nearest Dunks.
In 2022, we’re left asking how long will Patrice Bergeron be running with the Bruins?
Bergeron on Monday made it known he won’t play for any other team but the Bruins.
Bruins GM Don Sweeney will be forced to walk the plank from the ninth floor of the Garden if he denies a willing Bergeron the opportunity to return.
Then again, Sweeney might be gone before the Red Sox trade Xander Bogaerts.
The regression of the Bruins during the past four postseasons demonstrates how slippery things have become on the TD Garden ice.
It is about as stable as the Spy Pond ice in April.
In 2019, the Bruins lost in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals at home.
In 2020, the Bruins lost to the eventual Stanley Cup champion Lightning inside the Toronto bubble.
In 2021, the Bruins lost in the second round of the playoffs to a team (New York Islanders) that lost to the eventual Stanley Cup champion Lightning.
In 2022, the Bruins lost in the first round to the Fake Whalers.
Your 401(k) is trending better these days.
Since the start of 2020, Tom Brady, Rob Gronkowski, Mookie Betts, David Krejci and Zdeno Chara have left town. Julian Edelman retired.
Bergeron’s departure would sever one of the few remaining links to the “Score of Supremacy.”
If Bergeron’s mind and body suit a return, the Bruins must accommodate him.
A lesser Bergeron in what would be his 20th year in Boston is still better than no Bergeron after his 19th.
But there is opportunity for the Bruins no matter what Bergeron decides.
If he retires, it will allow the Bruins to rip off their metaphorical Band-Aid and begin a rebuild around the likes of Charlie McAvoy, Jeremy Swayman, and David Pastrnak and/or Brad Marchand. Losing Bergeron would make a deal featuring Marchand a bit more palatable, but only if the return is tangible and significant.
Bergeron is a finalist to win his fifth Selke Trophy. That will be awarded in the next couple of weeks. That award is given “to the forward who best excels in the defensive aspects of the game” and is voted on by members of the Professional Hockey Writers Association. Most, if not all, enjoy a positive relationship with Bergeron.
Bergeron led the NHL in faceoffs won again this past season at 61.9%
His body, however, is 36 going on 77. One could not blame him for escaping while everything is still in one piece.
Bergeron’s medical chronicles read like a list of injuries after a Red Line crash.
It is as painful to read as it is to write.
Concussion & Broken Nose — 2007
Regular Season
Concussion — 2008 Regular Season Concussion — 2011 Playoffs
Hand Injury — 2010
Regular Season
Concussion — 2013
Regular Season
Broken Rib — 2013
Stanley Cup Finals
Torn Cartilage — 2013 Stanley Cup Finals Separated Shoulder — 2013 Stanley Cup Finals
Punctured Lung — 2013 Stanley Cup Finals
Broken Foot — 2018 Regular Season Rib/Upper Body — 2018 Regular Season Covid-19 — 2021 Regular Season
Head Laceration — 2022 Regular Season
Apologies if we missed anything. Space is limited.
If the NHL were to license a version of the “Operation” game — Bergeron would be its patient.
If only we could find the funny bone in all this.
There is room for censure, especially in the opportunities the Bruins and Bergeron have lost in the past decade. Overall, Bergeron is 6-7 in Game 7s. And he’s 1-2 in the Stanley Cup finals. During this past series against the Fake Whalers and in the second round against the Islanders last year, the “Perfection” line of Bergeron, Marchand, and Pastrnak was made all-too deficient by bigger, younger, and faster defensemen.
But Bergeron did win one Stanley Cup. And that it is the only Stanley Cup the Bruins have taken in the past 50 years. Slamming Bergeron for not winning more Cups is as much an indictment against the entire Bruins franchise as it is against its face.
Bergeron has nothing left to prove to himself, his teammates, or the fanbase that has vociferously admired and appreciated his efforts since he arrived in Boston as an 18-year-old kid from Quebec in 2003. Bergeron lived with Bruins veteran Martin Lapointe and Lapointe’s family as a rookie. He tallied 16 goals and 23 assists in 71 games, plus scored a playoff winner in OT, during his first season. His career took off after a year in the AHL during the 2004-05 lockout. Bergeron was ready for the rigors of the NHL when play resumed in 2005.
He’s been All-World ever since. Seventeen years later, the Bruins may soon face the challenge of being ready for the rigors of NHL without Bergeron.
The clock may have come down in Arlington. But it continues to tick on Causeway Street.