Patrice Bergeron

Patrice Bergeron-Cleary (born July 24, 1985) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre who played 19 seasons in the National Hockey League, all with the Boston Bruins. He served as team captain from 2021 until his retirement in 2023. Bergeron played junior hockey with the Acadie–Bathurst Titan of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) for one full season before being selected 45th overall by the Bruins in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft. He made the immediate jump from junior to the NHL after his draft and joined the Bruins in the 2003–04 season. In international play, Bergeron competed for Canada and won gold medals at the 2004 World Championships, 2005 World Junior Championships, 2010 Winter Olympics, 2012 Spengler Cup, and 2014 Winter Olympics. Bergeron is a member of the Triple Gold Club after winning the Stanley Cup with Boston in 2011. He scored two goals, including the Stanley Cup-winning goal, in Game 7 against the Vancouver Canucks.

Known for his two-way abilities, Bergeron is a six-time winner of the Frank J. Selke Trophy, awarded annually to the NHL forward with the best defensive skills, the most in NHL history. His 12 nominations are also an NHL record. He is regarded as one of the premier two-way forwards in NHL history.

Minor hockey
Bergeron grew up in his hometown of L'Ancienne-Lorette, Quebec, and was a Quebec Nordiques fan in his youth. Bergeron was mostly an A and AA player throughout his minor hockey days. He played in the 1998 and 1999 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournaments with a minor ice hockey team from Sainte-Foy, Quebec City. He was drafted in the fifth round of the 2001 QMJHL Draft out of AAA Bantam hockey with the Sainte-Foy Gouverneurs. The following year, he played A hockey for the Séminaire St-François Blizzard before reporting to the Acadie-Bathurst Titan of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.

Beginnings (2003–2007)
Bergeron was drafted 45th overall in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft by the Boston Bruins. During his rookie season, he was selected for the NHL YoungStars Game in Minnesota as part of the 2004 All-Star weekend. He finished his rookie season with 39 points in 71 games. His first NHL goal came versus the Los Angeles Kings on October 18, 2003, in a 4–3 Boston road victory. He would then score the overtime-winning goal in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Quarter-Finals against the rival Montreal Canadiens on April 9, 2004. Due to the 2004–05 NHL lockout, Bergeron played for Boston's minor league affiliate, the Providence Bruins of the American Hockey League (AHL), tallying 61 points in 68 games.

As the NHL resumed the following season, Bergeron led the Bruins with a career-high 31 goals and 73 points. He played the majority of the season with linemates Brad Boyes and newcomer Marco Sturm, who had been acquired in a trade that sent captain Joe Thornton to the San Jose Sharks in November 2005. Then Bruins general manager Mike O'Connell recalled in a June 2011 interview that the organization had decided to build the team around Bergeron instead of Thornton, preferring the former's on- and off-ice character.

Playing under a defensive system employed by new head coach Dave Lewis, he recorded his second consecutive 70-point campaign in 2006–07 with 22 goals and 48 assists. He again played alongside Sturm and Boyes until the latter was traded late in the season. Bergeron was hampered the majority of the season by a nagging shoulder injury.

Establishment, Stanley Cup title, two more Stanley Cup Finals, "Perfection Line" era (2007–2020)
After recording three goals and four assists in the first ten games of the 2007–08 season, Bergeron suffered a season-ending head injury during a game on October 27, 2007. Checked from behind by Philadelphia Flyers defenceman Randy Jones, Bergeron hit his head on the end-boards, knocking him unconscious. He lay motionless on the ice for several minutes before being wheeled off on a stretcher and taken to Massachusetts General Hospital, where he was diagnosed with a broken nose and a grade-three concussion. Jones received a two-game suspension from the NHL. Bergeron made his first public statements regarding the injury on November 8, saying he would not take any legal action and that Jones had tried to contact him to apologize.

On January 19, 2008, the Boston Globe reported Bergeron had been sent on a vacation by then Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli and that he would likely sit out for the remainder of the season as his recovery had regressed. In March 2008, Bergeron started preliminary on-ice practice with Bruins goaltender Manny Fernandez, who was himself recovering from knee surgery. He steadily progressed into full-contact practices in early-April, aiming for a playoff return against the Montreal Canadiens in the opening round; however, he was held back by team doctors. In June 2008, Bergeron was reported as being symptom-free during off-season training. He participated in the Bruins' summer development camp (typically for Bruins prospects) with Fernandez, before joining the Bruins' main training camp.

He returned to action with the Bruins for the team's preseason opening game on September 22, 2008, against the Montreal Canadiens, an 8–3 victory played in Halifax, Nova Scotia. After the 2008–09 season began, on October 23, Bergeron scored his first goal since his concussion, in a 4–2 home loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs. Two months later, in a game against the Carolina Hurricanes on December 20, Bergeron collided with opposing defenceman (and future Bruin) Dennis Seidenberg, suffering another concussion. He lay face down on the ice while being attended to by team trainers and eventually left the ice under his own power. He was released from the hospital the day after the collision and placed on injured reserve. (Seidenberg and Bergeron later became teammates on the Bruins after a trade for Byron Bitz to the Florida Panthers in 2010 to acquire Seidenberg.) Bergeron returned after being sidelined for one month and completed the season with 39 points in 64 games. In the first round of the 2009 playoffs, Bergeron recorded his first career fighting major in an altercation with Montreal's Josh Gorges.

In 2009–10, Bergeron scored 52 points (19 goals, 33 assists) and played in 73 games. During the 2010 playoffs, he scored 4 goals and added 7 assists for 11 points in all 14 games.

Half way into the 2010–11 season, Bergeron scored his first career NHL hat-trick in a Bruins victory over the Ottawa Senators on January 11, 2011. Bergeron was named the NHL's First Star of the Month and was twice named First Star of the Week in January 2011. Bergeron took a hit from Claude Giroux on May 6, in Game 4 of the second round in the 2011 playoffs against the Philadelphia Flyers, causing a mild concussion that kept Bergeron out of the first two games of the third round against the Tampa Bay Lightning before eventually returning to the lineup in game three to help the Bruins eventually defeat the Lightning in seven games. On June 1, during Game 1 on the Stanley Cup Finals against the Presidents' Trophy-winning-Vancouver Canucks, Canucks' forward Alexandre Burrows allegedly bit Bergeron's finger during a scrum. No penalty was called and the NHL did not fine or suspend Burrows because the alleged bite was not supported by any evidence except a video of Burrows biting Bergeron's glove while his hand was still inside it and bite marks on Bergeron's finger. The Bruins lost Games 1, 2, and 5 away, but won Games 3, 4, and 6 at home, tying the series at three games apiece. On June 15, Bergeron scored two goals in Game 7 of the series (including the game and series winner) against Canucks goaltender Roberto Luongo in a 4–0 victory over a Canucks in the game and 4–3 victory in the series, as the Bruins captured their sixth Stanley Cup in franchise history and first since 1972. Bergeron also became the 26th member of the Triple Gold Club. He is engraved on the Stanley Cup using his birth name, Patrice Bergeron-Cleary.

After the close of the 2012 playoffs, even with the defending Stanley Cup champion Bruins eliminated in the first round in seven games by the Washington Capitals, Bergeron's constant defensive efforts on the ice earned him the Frank J. Selke Trophy as the NHL's top defensive forward for the 2011–12 season.

After finishing second in Selke Trophy voting for the lockout-shortened 2012–13 season (only behind Chicago Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews), Bergeron turned in a heroic playoff performance in the 2013 playoffs which included the tying- and game-winning goals against the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game 7 of Round 1, and the overtime winner in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Earlier in the third round series against the Penguins in game one on June 1, 2013, in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Penguins, he and Evgeni Malkin began squaring off at centre ice, leading to Malkin knocking off Bergeron's helmet before they both threw off their gloves to fight. The two continued to throw blows even while referees attempted to separate them. Bergeron also became renowned in the hockey world for displaying his toughness when, in the Stanley Cup Finals against the Presidents' Trophy-winning Chicago Blackhawks where the Bruins lost in six games, he played through a punctured lung, separated shoulder, a broken rib and a broken nose.

The Bruins re-signed Bergeron to an eight-year, $52 million ($6.5 million per year) contract extension on July 12, 2013. In the following 2013–14 season, Bergeron reached the 30-goal mark for the second time in his career, achieving a total of 30 goals and 32 assists, and was a major factor as the Bruins won the Presidents' Trophy as the regular season champions. For his performance in the regular season, Bergeron was awarded his second career Frank J. Selke Trophy, as well as the NHL Foundation Player Award. He was named as the cover athlete for the NHL 15 video game in the same ceremony.

Towards the end of the 2014–15 season, on February 23, 2015, Bergeron scored his 200th career goal on Corey Crawford as the Bruins defeated the Chicago Blackhawks, 6–2. Bergeron, who has played his entire NHL career as a member of the Bruins since they drafted him in 2003 in the second round, became the 17th player in franchise history to score 200 or more career goals for the club. Despite the Bruins missing the 2015 playoffs by just two points in the league standings, Bergeron was awarded the Selke Trophy for the second straight season and third time altogether after being named a finalist for the fourth consecutive season and time in his career.

Despite the Bruins narrowly missing the playoffs again by having missed by just three points, Bergeron was named a finalist for the Selke Trophy for the fifth consecutive year after recording 32 goals, 36 assists and 68 points although the Selke Trophy would get awarded Los Angeles Kings forward Anže Kopitar.

Bergeron's play during the 2016–17 season was hampered by a sports hernia that occurred at some time early in the season, but which was only revealed on April 25, 2017. Bergeron's sports hernia was operated on May 8, and he was expected to be ready for the Bruins' training camp before the 2017–18 season began. Bergeron played 79 games with 21 goals, 32 assists and 53 points in the season with first line of him, Brad Marchand and David Pastrňák labeled as "The Perfection Line" by the media. Bergeron was awarded his fourth career Selke Trophy after being named a finalist for the sixth consecutive season and sixth time in his career altogether.

Near the halfway point of the 2017–18 season, on January 6, 2018, in a 7–1 home win for the Bruins over the Carolina Hurricanes, Bergeron scored four goals, including Bergeron's first-ever NHL natural hat trick, bringing his scoring-point total (goals/assists combined) to 702 in his NHL career. Five games later, on January 18, Bergeron recorded the third hat-trick of his career (and second of the season) in a 5–2 win over the New York Islanders. After blocking an opposition shot with his right foot on February 24 against the hosting Toronto Maple Leafs, Bergeron discovered two days later he had broken a bone in his foot and would remain out of action for two weeks pending further evaluation of his foot fracture. By March 19, Bergeron had been able to start practicing his skating with the team. Bergeron was cleared to play in the Bruins road game against the Minnesota Wild on March 25, recording assists on each of the goals scored in the Bruins' 2–1 overtime win. Bergeron ended the season with 30 goals, 33 assists for 63 points in 64 games played and was named a finalist for the Selke Trophy fo the seventh consecutive time in his career and seventh time altogether, which eventually went to Anže Kopitar of the Los Angeles Kings.

The 2018–19 season for the Bruins saw Bergeron achieve some impressive milestones in his NHL career: on December 22, 2018, Bergeron scored his 300th goal in a 5–2 win over the Nashville Predators on Predators goaltender Pekka Rinne. On February 5, 2019, Bergeron played in his 1,000th NHL game, all with the Bruins, scoring two goals in a 3–1 home ice win against the visiting New York Islanders By the late-season games of the 2018–19 season, Bergeron was set to break the 800-point milestone in his NHL career, which was achieved on March 16, with a goal that tied the game in the first period, leading to a 2–1 home-ice overtime Bruins win over the visiting Columbus Blue Jackets. On April 17, Bergeron was nominated for the Selke Trophy for an NHL-record eighth straight season which was eventually given to Ryan O'Reilly of the St. Louis Blues. Bergeron and the Bruins would eventually go on to the 2019 Stanley Cup Finals in which the Bruins lost in seven games to the St. Louis Blues, one win short from winning a second Stanley Cup.

On July 20, 2020, Bergeron was named a Selke finalist for a 9th consecutive season after helping the Bruins clinch the Presidents' Trophy as the best regular season team but the trophy ultimately went to Sean Couturier of the Philadelphia Flyers.

Final years and captaincy (2020–2023)
On January 7, 2021, Bergeron was named the captain of the Boston Bruins. Zdeno Chára, who had been the team's captain since 2006–07, signed with the Washington Capitals two weeks earlier in December 2020. At the end of the pandemic-shortened 2020–21 season, Bergeron ranked fourth on the Boston Bruins all-time scoring list with 917 total points (375 goals and 542 assists). At the time, he trailed only Ray Bourque, Johnny Bucyk and Phil Esposito. Just days before the June 9 elimination of the Bruins from the 2021 playoffs by the New York Islanders in six games in the second round, Bergeron was nominated as a candidate for the Frank J. Selke Trophy for the tenth straight season but the trophy was eventually given to Florida Panthers forward and captain Aleksander Barkov - However, Bergeron would instead win the Mark Messier Leadership Award for the 2020–21 season; for strong team leadership, and contributions to the general society.

It was not until the eighth game of the 2021–22 season on November 4, 2021, that Bergeron would register his first Bruins goal of the season. On that day, in a home game against the visiting Detroit Red Wings, Patrice scored only his second natural hat trick - and seventh hat trick overall - of his NHL career, as the foundation for a four-goal game by the Bruins team captain in a 5–1 defeat of the Red Wings. On April 28, 2022, against the Buffalo Sabres, Bergeron scored a hat trick for his 400th career goal. He became the fourth Bruins player ever to score 400 goals for one team, joining Johnny Bucyk (545), Phil Esposito (459), and Rick Middleton (402). The Bruins were eliminated in the first round of the 2022 playoffs by the Carolina Hurricanes. With the season marking the end of Bergeron's contract, and in light of his age and history of injuries, there was considerable uncertainty as to whether he would continue with the team. He ruled out playing for any other team, saying he would either re-sign or retire. Bergeron was once again nominated for the Selke Trophy for the eleventh time, and it was announced on June 5, that he had won the award for the record-setting fifth time.

On August 8, 2022, Bergeron signed a one-year contract to return to the Bruins for his nineteenth season. Bergeron scored his 1,000th point in his NHL career on November 21, with an assist on a goal by longtime linemate Brad Marchand, in a 5–3 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning. In 2023, Bergeron beat his own record with a sixth Selke trophy win after being named a top three finalist for the twelfth time in his career and twelfth consecutive season. Bergeron helped the Bruins win the Presidents' Trophy as the best regular season team for 2022–23 before being defeated in 7 games in the first round of the 2023 playoffs by the eighth seeded Florida Panthers after leading the series 3-1. This was widely regarded as one of the biggest playoff collapses in NHL history. Bergeron announced his retirement from hockey on July 25, 2023, a day after his 38th birthday, having played nineteen seasons in the NHL.

International play
Following his rookie season in the NHL, Bergeron was selected to play for Canada at the 2004 World Championships in Prague. He scored one goal in his international debut and won his first gold medal with Canada.

The following year, Bergeron was chosen to the Canadian national junior team for the 2005 World Junior Championships in North Dakota. He was lent to the team from the Providence Bruins of the AHL, where he was playing due to the NHL lockout. Bergeron was eligible for the World Juniors the previous year as well but was not lent to the national team because he was playing in the NHL. He finished the tournament with 5 goals and 8 assists totalling 13 points over 6 games while playing on a line with Sidney Crosby and Corey Perry. He scored a goal in Canada's 6–1 gold medal victory over Russia. He finished the tournament as the leading scorer to earn MVP and All-Star team honours. By helping Canada win gold at the tournament, he became the first player to win a men's gold medal before winning at the junior level.

Bergeron made his second appearance at the World Championships in 2006 and was reunited on a line with World Junior teammate Sidney Crosby, to whom he finished second in tournament scoring with 14 points. Bergeron was once again invited to play for Canada in the 2007 World Championships. He declined, citing he wanted to recover from injuries suffered during the NHL season.

On December 30, 2009, Bergeron was selected to play for Canada for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver; he was the only player selected who did not receive an invitation to the selection camp earlier in the summer. Many commentators predicted Bergeron would play on a line with Crosby due to his previous experience with him at the World Juniors and World Championships, but he ended up as the 13th forward due to a groin injury incurred in Canada's first game. He played primarily on the penalty kill and in defensive-zone faceoffs.

During the 2012–13 NHL lockout, Bergeron played for Lugano and competed for Canada at the 2012 Spengler Cup, along with teammate at the time, Tyler Seguin. Canada took gold in the event, and Bergeron scored the first goal in the first minute of a 7–2 Canada rout over Davos, and added three assists.

Bergeron won his second gold medal with Canada at the 2014 Winter Olympics and was a member of Canada's championship team at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey, reunited on both occasions on a line with Sidney Crosby.

Personal life
Bergeron is the son of Gerard Cleary, a city foreman, and Sylvie Bergeron, a social worker. Bergeron is of both French-Canadian and Irish descent, by way of his father. Although his legal surname is Bergeron-Cleary, it was truncated to Bergeron for simplicity.

Bergeron and his wife Stephanie Bertrand have four children together: Zach, Victoria, Noah, and Felix.

Awards, honours and records

 * Member of the Triple Gold Club
 * Scored the Stanley Cup-winning goal in 2011
 * Voted the cover athlete for EA Sports' NHL 15 video game

Records

 * First and only player in history to win the IIHF World Championship before the IIHF World U20 Championship
 * Most Frank J. Selke Trophy wins in NHL history (6)
 * Nominated for the Frank J. Selke Trophy for an NHL-record 12 straight seasons
 * Frank J. Selke Trophy finalist for 12 consecutive seasons, the longest streak ever for a voted NHL Award in NHL history.
 * Most playoff overtime goals in Boston Bruins history