Patrice Bergeron was born on July 24, 1985 in L’Ancienne-Lorette Quebec Canada. As a 15-year-old, Bergeron played in the Quebec Major 18 League with Sainte-Foy Gouverneuers for five games with a goal and an assist. The following year the two-way center moved to the Seminaire St-Francois Blizzard and was dominant with 25 goals and 37 assists in 38 games and a second-team All-Star. Bergeron played four games in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League with the Acadie-Bathurst Titan at the end of that season. His next year with Acadie-Bathurst in 2002-03 put him on the NHL Draft radar as the right-shot pivot collected 23 goals and 50 assists in 70 games.
Patrice Bergeron Drafted 45th Overall by Boston Bruins in the 2003 NHL Draft
The Boston Bruins made Patrice Bergeron the 45th overall selection in the second round of the 2003 NHL Draft. Bergeron was the 14th center taken in that draft and one of six who played over 1,000 games in the NHL (Eric Staal, Jeff Carter, Ryan Getzlaf, Ryan Kesler, Joe Pavelski). The eliteprospects.com scout on Bergeron pre-draft seemed to be accurate foreshadowing: “A brilliant two-way center. Bergeron has excellent hockey sense and can read the play really well. A skilled playmaker, he can also shoot the puck well. A very good skater”. Years later, Bergeron would become one of the best draft picks in Bruins history. The 6-foot-1, 190-pound forward played one season with the Bruins American Hockey League affiliate Providence Bruins in 2004-05, registered 21 goals and 40 assists in 68 games, and played in the AHL All-Star Game. He also won a Gold Medal with Canada and was the Most Valuable Player on the U-20 World Junior Championships team.
Bergeron’s NHL Debut To Today
Patrice Bergeron made his NHL debut on October 8, 2003, against the New Jersey Devils as an 18-year-old and registered one shot on goal in 10:16 of ice time (17 shifts) as the Bruins tied the Devils 3-3 in Boston. On October 15, Bergeron notched his first career assist on a goal by Brian Rolston in a 2-0 victory over Dallas. Then three days later, the future captain of the Bruins scored his first National Hockey League goal to tie the game late in the third period in a 4-3 win over the host Los Angeles Kings.
Bergeron has secured a great deal of hardware over the years as well. The two-way center has won five Selke Awards for the league’s top defensive forward. In 2012-13, Bergeron won the King Clancy Trophy for Leadership and Humanitarian Contribution, and in 2020-21, he was chosen as the Mark Messier Leadership Award winner. Bergeron also won Gold Medals at the 2010 and 2014 Winter Olympics, and in 2011 he scored two goals in a 4-0 Game 7 win as the Bruins won their first Stanley Cup in 39 years.
During the Bruins’ inaugural Winter Classic, Bergeron assisted on Marco Storm’s overtime goal to beat Philadelphia 2-1 at Fenway Park. It was on January 11, 2011, when Bergeron notched his first career hat trick in a 6-0 win over Ottawa. Bergeron, once again, made sure to shine in the spotlight with a two-goal outing in his 1,000th career game on February 5, 2019. He opened the scoring at 2:32 of the first before potting an empty-net goal with 55 seconds left in regulation to secure a 3-1 victory over the Islanders at TD Garden.
Bergeron tallied his 1,000th career point with a secondary assist on Marchand’s second-period marker in a 5-3 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning. Bergeron is third on the Bruins’ all-time list with 1,281 career games, third in goals with 424, fourth in assists with 607, and third in points with 1,031. Bergeron is also plus-281, which is fourth on the all-time list. In postseason play, Bergeron has 49 goals and 78 assists in 167 games with a plus-48 rating.
Patrice Bergeron is the captain of the Boston Bruins and among the all-time great players in the franchise’s history. The captain is an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season and has not decided on his future as of yet.
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