Player Discussion Patrice Bergeron

[Sheppy]

He’s going to retire. I think he costed us this cup run and is going to come to the conclusion that his health just isn’t where it needs to be in order to win another cup—which is a logical conclusion. He was a -6 in two games, which is completely uncharacteristic of him.

Had a great year, but a herniated disc is hard to recover from without surgery and he already almost retired last year.

That's not Bergeron's fault.

 

[BradMarchandismydad]

That's not Bergeron's fault.

His health? Not at all his fault.

But his health bombed his on ice play.

Look I love Patrice but I think he’s going to make the decision to retire, full stop. Would love to eat crow on it, as we need him to continue to mentor the guys who will come up next year, but I just don’t see it.

 

[Sheppy]

His health? Not at all his fault.

But his health bombed his on ice play.

Look I love Patrice but I think he’s going to make the decision to retire, full stop. Would love to eat crow on it, as we need him to continue to mentor the guys who will come up next year, but I just don’t see it.

That's on Monty for putting him into the lineup.

 

[BruinDust]

Let’s put it this way. How many injuries happen in practice compared to in game.

Now be reasonable and honest and you’ll say there is an exponentially higher number of players who get injured in games than practices.

Yes, you are more likely to be injured in an actual game than a practice.

But so what? We make it sound like some vicious incident against an opponent injured him, like he was hit from behind or had his knees taken out. If it was I can see your point. But that wasn't the case.

It sucks he got hurt but this obsession the fanbase has with him playing that final regular season game is frankly bizarre. They already had guys out with injury. They still had to play the game and dress a roster. People make it sound like they could of sat most of the roster and called up 10-12 guys from Providence but it doesn't work like that. Heck they didn't have the cap space to make a bunch of last minute recalls if they wanted to and you can't just use emergency recall at your leasure.

 

[UncleRico]

Yes, you are more likely to be injured in an actual game than a practice.

But so what? We make it sound like some vicious incident against an opponent injured him, like he was hit from behind or had his knees taken out. If it was I can see your point. But that wasn't the case.

It sucks he got hurt but this obsession the fanbase has with him playing that final regular season game is frankly bizarre. They already had guys out with injury. They still had to play the game and dress a roster. People make it sound like they could have sat most of the roster and called up 10-12 guys from Providence but it doesn't work like that. Heck they didn't have the cap space to make a bunch of last minute recalls if they wanted to and you can't just use emergency recall at your leasure.

Well the obsession is quite simple. Before the game a bunch of us were saying “please rest everyone and avoid injury for the playoff run”

Then what happens was they played everyone and the captain of the team herniated a disc in his back from playing in the same game everyone was begging them not to play in.

Then they lost in the first round.

 

[BruinDust]

Well the obsession is quite simple. Before the game a bunch of us were saying “please rest everyone and avoid injury for the playoff run”

Then what happens was they played everyone and the captain of the team herniated a disc in his back from playing in the same game everyone was begging them not to play in.

Then they lost in the first round.

But you can't rest everyone. It doesn't work that way. I would of been fine forfeiting the Habs game and not even playing but it doesn't work like that either.

He played Game 81 as well. Where was the outcry then? Had the injury occurred in Game 81 would fans feel better about it?

And he had already sat the Philly game earlier in the week. If he takes off the Hab game now he's only played once in 9 days. Maybe as an athlete he wanted some more work in to be ready for the playoffs. Neither you nor me know how Patrice Bergeron feels about his workload and preparation.

 

[Therick67]

The Bruins could have made 4 call ups for the Montreal game. Bergeron, Marchand, pasta and Mac..

 

[Bruinaura]

Bergeron is not the reason the team lost this series.

 

[UncleRico]

But you can't rest everyone. It doesn't work that way. I would of been fine forfeiting the Habs game and not even playing but it doesn't work like that either.

He played Game 81 as well. Where was the outcry then? Had the injury occurred in Game 81 would fans feel better about it?

And he had already sat the Philly game earlier in the week. If he takes off the Hab game now he's only played once in 9 days. Maybe as an athlete he wanted some more work in to be ready for the playoffs. Neither you nor me know how Patrice Bergeron feels about his workload and preparation.

True they can’t rest everyone, but let’s not act like they haven’t come damn close in the past on the last day of the regular season when the game was meaningless from a playoff seeding stand point.

Two years ago Cassidy called up three forwards lines and 2 d pairs from providence to play against the capitals. They left Debrusk and couple 4th liners out to play (year Debrusk had 5 or 6 goals) and clifton.

So at least under Cassidy in the past he took the measures in the final game of the year to sit everyone except the 4th line and 3rd d pairing. Very similar situation where the final game had no impact on playoff seeding so they sat everyone possible.

 

[BruinDust]

True they can’t rest everyone, but let’s not act like they haven’t come damn close in the past on the last day of the regular season when the game was meaningless from a playoff seeding stand point.

Two years ago Cassidy called up three forwards lines and 2 d pairs from providence to play against the capitals. They left Debrusk and couple 4th liners out to play (year Debrusk had 5 or 6 goals) and clifton.

So at least under Cassidy in the past he took the measures in the final game of the year to sit everyone except the 4th line and 3rd d pairing. Very similar situation where the final game had no impact on playoff seeding so they sat everyone possible.

You have to keep in mind the amount of cap space they need to make call-ups. They were so tight against the cap it made those transactions more difficult if not impossible.

 

[UncleRico]

You have to keep in mind the amount of cap space they need to make call-ups. They were so tight against the cap it made those transactions more difficult if not impossible.

Ok so then management deserves some of the blame. Certainly not ideal that you are forcing bergeron at his age to play the most he’s played in a few seasons at least partly because management forced their hand in not being able to call people up.

Idk bottom line for me there is zero love lost with this group. They got their opportunities and failed besides the one time tim Thomas stood on his head. The core turned into a bunch of self serving divas the last 2-3 years and ultimately their play on the ice reflected it.

 

[The don godfather]

One of the best hope he comes back in a smaller roll. 2nd line duties?

 

[BruinDust]

Ok so then management deserves some of the blame. Certainly not ideal that you are forcing bergeron at his age to play the most he’s played in a few seasons at least partly because management forced their hand in not being able to call people up.

Idk bottom line for me there is zero love lost with this group. They got their opportunities and failed besides the one time tim Thomas stood on his head. The core turned into a bunch of self serving divas the last 2-3 years and ultimately their play on the ice reflected it.

They won and competed for another cup while the core was in their prime (2011-2013).

Like many franchises in sports, they tried to repeat that as the core aged out of their prime. They were able to draft two players who should of never fallen to them (Pasta and McAvoy) giving them hope that they could still achieve success with this group.

 

[Therick67]

You have to keep in mind the amount of cap space they need to make call-ups. They were so tight against the cap it made those transactions more difficult if not impossible.

I believe they could have called up 4 players IIRC

 

[BruinDust]

I believe they could have called up 4 players IIRC

Cap-wise or are you thinking about the 4 non-emergency recall limit post trade deadline?

 

[ODAAT]

super sad way to go out if this is it for Bergy and I believe it is/will be but man o man, how spoiled we were for almost 2 decades

 

[UncleRico]

They won and competed for another cup while the core was in their prime (2011-2013).

Like many franchises in sports, they tried to repeat that as the core aged out of their prime. They were able to draft two players who should of never fallen to them (Pasta and McAvoy) giving them hope that they could still achieve success with this group.

Ya I won’t blame them for the Chicago series at all, but just as this core won a cup in 2011(thank you Tim Thomas) this core also have three of the most historical chokes/collapses in NHL history.

-2010 flyers up 3-0 in the series
-2023 panthers up 3-1 best regular season ever only to choke.
-Then they wereheavily favored over the blues and got bullied

Man is this core lucky Thomas carried them to a cup or what, because if not we are talking about arguably the biggest postseason chokers in NHL history. They still might be .

 

[Therick67]

Cap-wise or are you thinking about the 4 non-emergency recall limit post trade deadline?

I don't recall, but i read it here (Dom maybe). If they had no call ups available, id think Monty would have mentioned it in one of his versions of why guys played in that last game.

 

[BruinDust]

Ya I won’t blame them for the Chicago series at all, but just as this core won a cup in 2011(thank you Tim Thomas) this core also have three of the most historical chokes/collapses in NHL history.

-2010 flyers up 3-0 in the series
-2023 panthers up 3-1 best regular season ever only to choke.
-Then they wereheavily favored over the blues and got bullied

Man is this core lucky Thomas carried them to a cup or what, because if not we are talking about arguably the biggest postseason chokers in NHL history. They still might be .

As painful as it was at the time, Marchand wasn't even in the line-up then and Krejci was injured for all 4 losses back in 2010. And that Thomas guy was also hurt and not really an option once a rookie Rask started to falter. They were a 6th seed and went into the playoffs with a 29th or 30th ranked offense.

The Blues one stings because I felt that was a very winnable opponent and the Bruins should of defeated them.

2014 was another one where I felt they massively choked away they series.

 

[Kate08]

Bergeron is my favorite Bruin of all time. I truly hope he retires. It's time.

Montgomery simply did not need to play him this series. So many bad decisions by him in this series.

 

[missingchicklet]

Seems like every season we learn Bergy had been playing in the playoffs with all manner of injuries. He was a year older this year, yet he played the most he's played in 6 seasons. They rode him too hard.

My feeling is a flaw of Monty this season was also a strength. He's loyal and is a leader who delegates. It worked out well for him regular season as a new coach who didn't want to rock the culture too much. He ultimately deferred too much to the leadership in the room last part of the season.

Bergy should have never played as much as he did down the stretch, and sure as hell shouldn't have been in game 82. Plenty of people saying that before it happened. Of course Bergy is going to beg to play. That's the way he's wired. He's a warrior. Monty refused to step in and make an executive decision on what's best for the team. Then he put Bergy in during the playoffs knowing he was hurt. I'm sure Bergy let him know he wanted to play. Again, coach needed to tell him the team is up 3-1 and they will need him healthy for the next round, so he will sit until he's 100 percent. Of course we know what came next -- Bs lost the next 3 games.

Do I blame Bergy? Not at all. He bled for this team his entire career and gave it his all. Sometimes a parent has to tell a great and exuberant kid "no." Monty was unwilling to do that. It was his job to manage the minutes and games of the veterans. He failed. To make matters worse he put in an injured player at a time in the playoffs in which the team was rolling without him. Bergy is amazing and remains one of the greatest Bs ever. I hope the failure of the coach to have the balls to do what should have been done doesn't taint Bergy's legacy.

 

[Malt]

Love Bergy. Hope he retires, spends much time with his lovely family, spends his millions, and enjoys a happy and healthy life.

 

[Alicat]

 

[Bruinaura]

@Ladyfan @GahdenRinkRat

 

[GahdenRinkRat]

@Ladyfan @GahdenRinkRat

View attachment 701063

I was crying while applauding for Bergy, it was right after this moment, one of the saddest ever for me personally in close to 60 years of being a diehard Bruins fan.