Patrice Bergeron

Infobox Ice Hockey Player


image_size=230px
team=Boston Bruins
former_teams =
league = NHL
position = Centre
shoots = Right
height_ft = 6
height_in = 2
weight_lb = 194
nationality = CAN
birth_date = birth date and age|1985|7|24
birth_place = L'Ancienne-Lorette, PQ, CAN
draft = 45th overall
draft_year = 2003
draft_team = Boston Bruins
career_start = 2003

Patrice Bergeron (born on July 24, 1985 in L'Ancienne-Lorette, Quebec) is a professional Canadian ice hockey centre in the National Hockey League, playing for the Boston Bruins.

Bergeron was drafted in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft by the Boston Bruins 45th overall. During his rookie season, Bergeron was selected for the NHL YoungStars game in Minnesota.

At the end of the season, Bergeron was selected to play for the Canadian Senior Men's team to compete in Prague at the World Championships, where they won the gold medal. During the 2004–05 NHL lockout, Bergeron played for the Providence Bruins of the American Hockey League before heading to North Dakota to play for the Canadian Under-20 team at the 2005 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships. He finished the tournament with 5 goals and 8 assists totalling 13 points over 6 games. He scored a goal in Canada's 6–1 Gold Medal victory over Russia. Bergeron finished the tournament as its leading scorer, MVP (Most Valuable Player) and All-Star team honours. Bergeron is also the first player to win a Senior Men's Gold Medal before winning a Junior one.

In his second season, Bergeron, only 20 years old, led the Bruins with 31 goals and 73 points, and finished second on the team with 42 assists. Following the season, he again played for Canada at the Senior Men's World Championships, finishing 2nd to teammate Sidney Crosby in tournament scoring with 14 points.

Bergeron was once again invited to play for Canada in the World Championships. He declined, citing that he wanted to recover and avoid any future injuries.

Concussion and subsequent recuperation

On October 27, 2007 Bergeron was hit from behind by Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Randy Jones, during a play in the deep corner of the rink. His head hitting the boards, he was knocked unconscious, wheeled off in a stretcher and taken to Massachusetts General Hospital. According to NESN, he suffered a broken nose and a 'Grade III' concussion while Jones received a two-game suspension by the NHL. [cite news | title = Bruins' Bergeron taken off in stretcher| url = http://tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=221555&hubname=nhl | publisher = Canadian Press | date = 2007-10-27 | accessdate = 2007-10-27] Some have assigned some blame for this hit to Bergeron, for his having retrieved the puck in a dangerous manner, i.e., turning back to his left after curling to the right, leaving himself face-first into the boards, while others have criticized Jones for not pulling up when Bergeron turned back, for hitting too high, and for driving Bergeron's head into the boards.

On November 8, 2007, Bergeron made his first public statements regarding the injury from the October 27 game. [ [http://bruins.nhl.com/team/app/?service=page&page=NewsPage&articleid=342690 Boston Bruins - News: Bergeron Press Conference Transcript (English & French) - 11/08/2007 ] ]

On January 19, 2008 after speculation of Bergeron's return during the 2007–2008 season, the Boston Globe reported that he has been sent on a vacation by Boston Bruins G.M. Peter Chiarelli. This article also said that Patrice's symptoms have regressed and that he will most likely sit out for the remainder of the season. [ [http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=227687&hubname= TSN : NHL - Canada's Sports Leader ] ]

In very early March 2008, Patrice started preliminary on-ice practice exercises with a hockey stick and pucks, designed to continue his recovery from his injury, and was observed shooting pucks at fellow Bruin, goaltender Manny Fernandez, who has himself been recovering from knee surgery. [http://bruins.nhl.com/team/app?articleid=355742&page=NewsPage&service=page] He steadily progressed through non-contact practice, into full contact practice sessions as of April 7, and was almost ready for playoff action for the first round of the 2007–08 Stanley Cup playoffs against the Bruins' traditional arch-rivals, the Montreal Canadiens, but was held back by team doctors. [http://www.boston.com/sports/hockey/bruins/extras/bruins_blog/2008/04/red_jersey_is_o.html] In mid-June 2008, Bergeron returned to his usual off-season routine of working out vigorously with six-day-a-week training sessions, has been totally free of any symptoms of the concussion, and was back up to an 86 kg (190 lb) body weight, only some 2-to-3 kg (4-6 lb) under his weight at the time of the concussion. [http://www.boston.com/sports/hockey/bruins/articles/2008/06/22/bergeron_aches___to_skate/]

During the early summer of 2008, Bergeron was again working out with goalie Fernandez as part of the team's second annual summer "development camp", which is usually reserved for the Bruins' prospects and recent draft picks. [http://bruins.nhl.com/team/app/?service=page&page=NewsPage&articleid=367938] Bergeron has, as of September 12, 2008, started practicing on-ice at the Bruins' Boston area training rink, and should be in training camp at the Bruins' training facility within a week. [http://bruins.nhl.com/team/app/?service=page&page=NewsPage&articleid=381796]

Bergeron finally returned to NHL play with the Bruins during the 2008-09 pre-season schedule, scoring one goal and three assists in the opening pre-season game on September 22, 2008 against the Montreal Canadiens, an 8-3 victory over the Habs, played in "neutral territory" in Halifax, Nova Scotia. [http://www.nhl.com/nhl/app/?service=page&page=Recap&gameNumber=5&season=20082009&gameType=1]

Career statistics

International play

Played for Canada in:

*2004 World Championships (gold medal)
*2005 World Junior Championships (gold medal)
*2006 World Championships

International statistics

References

External links

*hockeydb|62238
*nhlprofile|8470638

Persondata
NAME = Bergeron, Patrice
ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
SHORT DESCRIPTION = Professional Canadian ice hockey player
DATE OF BIRTH = July 24, 1985
PLACE OF BIRTH = L'Ancienne-Lorette, Quebec, Canada
DATE OF DEATH =
PLACE OF DEATH =