Bergeron is still among best at dot

Patrice “The Thief” Bergeron won 13 of his 17 faceoffs Thursday vs. the Rangers, increasing his league-leading win total to 163 for the season. Of the 19 other NHLers with 100 or more wins as of Friday morning, Bergeron’s 63.2 winning percentage ranked behind only Nashville’s Ryan Johansen (65.8) and Chicago’s Max Domi (65.0).

Whenever the day comes, Bergeron is a lock to retire No. 1 for faceoff wins, based on NHL data that began tracking puck drops at the start of the 1997-98 season. Headed into weekend play, he topped the list with 14,302. His career winning percentage (57.8) was just a hair below Rod Brind’Amour’s 58.7, among the eight centers to have won more than 10,000 faceoffs.

“None better than Bergeron. I don’t think he ever does the same thing twice, and it’s obvious that it’s important to him,” said ex-Bruins center Derek Sanderson, who displayed an appreciation for the art in his celebrated playing days. “It’s one of the most important facets of the game. You have 100 faceoffs a game, right? If you won ’em all, you’d have the puck 10 minutes more than the other guy.”

Also, the team that went 0 for 100 on the draw would have a new coach in the morning. But per usual, the Turk’s point was on point: Puck possession is key. Bergeron’s faceoff success is wired directly into his record five Selke Trophies as the NHL’s top defensive forward.

Ex-Bruin Gerry Cheevers, a Hall of Famer, often said rule No. 1 of netminding was never to give up short-side goals.

“Cover the near post at all costs,” said Cheevers.

What’s the cardinal rule for faceoffs? “Never, ever, pull it toward your own net,” said Sanderson. “If you’re pulling it back, it’s going to have some pace, isn’t it.? You don’t want to win it, and be the guy who scores on your own goalie.”

Sanderson, 76, last played in 197778. He was age 8, he recalled, when his father, Harold, began preaching to him about the importance of winning draws. When he arrived in Boston full time in 1967-68 (and was named Rookie of the Year), his coach, Harry Sinden,

also was preaching the importance of faceoff wins and puck possession.

Ahead of his time, noted Sanderson, Sinden was watching the stats.

“Frosty had pen and pad, he’d keep track,” said Sanderson, recalling beloved trainer John “Frosty” Forristall.

“It was me, Phil [Esposito], Freddy [Stanfield], and Eddie [Westfall].

Frosty would be behind the bench, ticking off wins and losses on his pad.

Come back to the bench, and he’d ask, ‘Turk, you win that one?’ I’d be, ‘Hell, ya, I won it!’ Then he’d say, ‘Yeah, but they got it.’ ‘Maybe they did,’ I’d say, ‘but I won it!’ ” Sinden, said Sanderson, would take Forristall’s math and post it on the dressing room wall between periods. It created a rivalry between the centers, and more importantly, placed focus on Sinden’s desire to win the drops and increase possession — often with the idea, of course, to get the puck to Bobby Orr.

“We also practiced it as a group after workouts, me against Phil, and Phil against Freddy,” recalled Sanderson. “Loser had to buy lunch, and maybe a beer or two.”