In his final game before the Olympic break, Patrice Bergeron showed a sold out TD Garden crowd some of the skills that have made him a two-time Olympian for Team Canada. Bergeron scored twice, added an assist, and played his trademark 200-foot game. Just another day at the office.
“To me, he’s always been that guy that’s that perfect fit. He’s as reliable defensively as he is offensively,… Claude Julien, Bergeron’s coach in Boston and an assistant coach for Team Canada, said on Saturday. “He’s going to give you a fair amount of production and a fair amount of points, yet he’s going to give you that same kind of, I guess, comfort feeling in your end of the ice as well. Those guys are hard to find and when you have them, you try to hold onto them.…
Joining the rest of the Canadian squad in Sochi, Bergeron’s role with the Red-and-White seems a bit muddled as of right now. On a club just plain loaded down the middle, it’s tough to see where the two-way pivot fits into the Canadians’ plans. Sidney Crosby will obviously center the top line, then there’s John Tavares, Jonathan Toews, and Ryan Getzlaf.
That’s four centers right there. And pretty, pretttttty, prettttyyyyyy good ones, I might add.
Could Bergeron be on the outs and forced to play on the wing a la Matt Duchene? Or could Bergeron even be on the outs as a whole, serving as Canada’s healthy scratch? Surely I jest, right?
“I don’t know. I still haven’t heard anything,… said Bergeron when asked if he knows anything about his role with Team Canada. “I’m sure I’ll know more as soon as I land to Sochi.…
The last time around, in Vancouver in 2010, Bergeron lasted on the wing of Canada’s top line with Sidney Crosby and Rick Nash for about a period. It wasn’t a good fit, really. Bergeron, for as strong a player as he’s been for the Bruins and his country, is not a skill player you put on the top line of a roster with as much raw talent as Team Canada. At the same time, however, he’s not a player you bury in the press box as the 13th or 14th skater, either. He’s just too smart.
And at the end of the day, there’s perhaps no better fit for Team Canada’s fourth line than Bergeron.
Only the St. Louis Blues’ Vladimir Sobotka (Hey, remember that guy?) has a better faceoff percentage in 2013-14 than Bergeron’s 59.7% success rate. Bergeron’s also a player that’s played throughout the Boston lineup under Julien -- serving primarily as the club’s third-line center during the era of Marc Savard and David Krejci dueling for the role of Boston’s top playmaker -- and one that can adapt to any role. Especially if the Canadian squad needs a key defensive zone faceoff, or strong penalty kill shift. Much like he did by the end of 2010’s run.
I think that it’s fairly obvious to expect Bergeron to have a legitimate crack at being one of Canada’s role-players, especially with Julien serving as one of head coach Mike Babcock’s associate coaches and with Peter Chiarelli on the club’s management squad. But will it be as a center or as a winger? Or as the squad’s 13th forward on the roster strictly for faceoff purposes?
I’m no Canadian, but a fourth line of Bergeron, Jamie Benn, and a guy like Jeff Carter seems like a nightmare to go up against, but then you’re talking about needing to make other switches, such as splitting up proven one-two punches like Crosby and Chris Kunitz, Getzlaf and Corey Perry, or Toews and Patrick Sharp.
To be that accomodating for a role as complementary as Bergeron’s seems unlikely.
But either way, the 28-year-old forward is pumped to don his country’s color once again in the playoff atmosphere that No. 37 has seemingly lived for throughout his tenure in Boston. “That’s something I noticed in Vancouver. Right from the first game was playoff intensity and the speed picked up another level from these games here right now,… Bergeron noted, adding, “It is different, and for what’s at stake it’s obvious it’s going to be tough games to win.
“I’m really excited. And now I can think about it a lot more, that’s what’s ahead of me.…