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Sean Bergenheim: Question of Confidence

February 8, 2010, 10:14 PM ET [ Comments]
Dee Karl
New York Islanders Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Sean Bergenheim was the NY Islanders first round draft pick in 2002. He played 18 games with the Islanders in the ‘03-’04 season, 20 games with Jokerit Helsinki-Finland and 7 games on Team Finland during the World Juniors that year.

It was in October of 2003 that I first saw him hit the ice in an Islanders sweater. He wore #43 in an exhibition game against the Pittsburgh Penguins on the Sound Tigers ice. The game didn’t count. He was just a kid playing an NHL game on the same ice as Mario Lemieux. He showed such promise and tenacity, he was a pleasure to watch. He stood out immediately. The biggest thing I remember was watching him stare down Mario Lemieux and not letting up off the puck. He didn’t care that it was a future Hall of Famer. All he knew was he was on a team that wanted to win a game, even one that didn’t count.

Sean grew as a player and as a man with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. He gained weight, he became tougher. He was hard to catch with his speed. The games I saw him play in Bridgeport, I felt he was hardly ever on the bench. Shift after shift, he was on the ice. He had Jason Blake’s speed combined with a bullish, banging style.

I became a fervant supporter of his potential from the start, but he was a pinball, shuttling back and forth between Bridgeport and Uniondale in the ‘05 - 06 season. In October of 2006, after his agent and the Islanders could not reach an agreement on a contract, he signed with Lokomotiv of the Russian League. That didn’t last long and by November 3rd, he signed with the Swedish Elite League.

Sean did well there, but not as well as he expected. He came back to the NHL, fired his agent and Garth Snow brokered a one year contract with him in June of 2007. He was happy to be back in the NHL and happy to be with the Islanders. He played 78 games and had only 22 points.

In July of 2008, as an RFA, he signed another contract with the Islanders. In the 2008- 2009 season, he played only 59 games due to injury and closed out the season with 24 points.

Again, I am still waiting for Sean to live up to the potential I know he has. That we ALL know he has. That Scott Gordon knows he has, that Ted Nolan knew he had, that every coach that Sean Bergenheim has skated for knew he had. Even Scotty Bowman recognized his potential on a broadcast. I assume Garth Snow feels he has unfulfilled potential, or he wouldn't have signed him to the contracts he did.

On Sunday, at the Islanders practice, the Media Director overhead me make a comment about Sean being able to hit the back of the net during practice but not during a game. I was told to ask him to his face. It was one of the hardest things I could have asked.

Feeling as if I have watched him grow up, I find it difficult to ask him the "tough" questions. I see what’s in his eyes and I know how difficult it is when he doesn’t do as well as he expects of himself. I’ve seen him stumble around questions when he doesn’t have the answers. It was hard for me to be in the position of the one asking. But I did. I had the tape recorder running and he told me it was a matter of confidence. So, as trite as it sounds, it’s a matter of being confident enough to actually score. This is what he said, these are his words … and I believe him.

“It’s a legit question. I think there’s been a few things in my game that causes why it hasn’t gone in. I think I’ve played pretty defensive this year and I definitely gotta get offense going. It’s something I’m working on. It feels a little bit better. Hopefully I’ll start scoring and get a little bit of confidence. I know it may sound stupid that we always say that it’s about confidence, but it really is. It’s so important. That’s something that lacks out of my game and hopefully when one goes in, then they’ll start coming. There’s some other stuff too that I don’t want to get into. But I can do better and I haven’t been as sharp in goal scoring position and that’s all on me. So there’s some stuff I’m trying to change. So hopefully that will work.”


Happy Birthday Sean. Here’s wishing you reach your potential.
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