When everyone’s having such a blast, with friends and family filling the sheet with smiles and laughs after each workout on Sunday, it can be easy to let the mind slip, forget that Winter Classic is a bona fide NHL game worth what can be crucial points in the standings.
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The Bruins’ outdoor practice complete, and the afternoon sky over Fenway Park on Sunday dimming to a slate gray, Zack Bergeron challenged his dad to a race. Family bragging rights were on the line, deep at the end of the ice closest to the third base line at the old ballpark.
Young Zack (draft class 2034?) bolted to the early lead, forcing Patrice, the Bruins’ 37-year-old captain, to lunge forward, dive facefirst into a belly slide, with both arms extended straight ahead as he fought to cross the finish line first.
Dads, no matter how famous, sometimes will sacrifice all dignity and decorum for a win. Especially if a certain someone is playing with the race rules.
“At first I thought [the end] was goal line,” said Patrice, rolling both eyes as he recapped the race, “but then he said it was all the way to the boards and I didn’t slide all the way through, so … yeah … so he won.”