Eastern Conference Eye Candy: Patrice Bergeron (Boston)

HOCKEY FACTOR:
Bergeron came out of the QMJHL playing two seasons with he Acadie-Bathurst Titan before being selected by the Bruins in the 2nd round of the 2003 Entry Draft (45th overall); was named to the QAAA Second All-Star Team (2002).

He made a huge leap from juniors straight into the NHL making the roster the first year he was drafted playing only one year with Boston's AHL affiliate, Providence Bruins, during the 2004-05 which was simply due to the NHL lock-out and not based on talent / production (he returned to Boston the following season).  He had a pretty successful rookie season with the Bruins as the NHL's youngest player that year.  He was chosen to participate in the Young Stars game during the 2004 NHL All-Star weekend in Minnesota, ranked fifth among NHL rookies in both goals and points as well as ranked fourth in rookie assists.

Bergie avoided the sophomore slump his next season with the Bruins (2005-2006) playing in his 100th NHL game in December of that year and recording his 100th NHL point with an assist that following March  He was also the youngest player in Bruins history to record a 30-goal season (20 years, 262 days) scoring his 30th and 31st goals that April.

During his time in the NHL, Patrice participated in international play from the Olympics to World Championships (he's actually the first player to win a men's gold medal before winning at the junior level).  Most recently Bergie played from Team Canada in the 2010 Olympics helping them win Gold.  He also participated in several World Championships; in 2004 he played in Worlds helping them to earn Gold as well as in World Juniors in 2005 in which he was on a line with Sidney Crosby and also helped them earn Gold (also named MVP and to the All-Tournament Team) and again in 2006.  He was invited to participate in 2007, but decided not to so that he could recover from the injuries he suffered during the NHL season.  But overall, he won a total of three gold medal participating in international play (2004 World Championship, 2005 World Junior Championship, 2010 Olympics).

Speaking of injuries, Bergie has been plagued by a few concussions.  A huge hit on him by Philadelphia's Randy Jones played a really big part of his being absent for most of the 2007-2008 season because of the [grade-three] concussion he suffered.  After a few obstacles with recovery, Bergeron returned to the ice during the 2008-2009 pre-season and scored his first goal since returning during the regular season on October 23, 2008 against the Toronto Maple Leafs.  However, after playing only a few games, Patrice suffered what turned out to be another concussion after colliding with Carolina's defenseman, Dennis Seidenberg, after which he was placed on IR (injured reserve) after being released from the hospital a day after the incident, but only ended up missing a total of 18 games that season.

This past season, Bergie earned his first team scoring title and finished fifth with faceoff percentage in the league (with a 58%).

HOTNESS FACTOR:
Bergie has a long-time girlfriend, Stephanie Bertrand, with whom he spends his summers with living in Quebec.

He has become friends with Matt Brown of Norwood High School who injured his neck playing hockey for his HS team this past January.

Bergeron, who had previously sent Brown a signed Bruins jersey which bore the message, "Stay Positive!" sought to deliver the supportive missive verbally and in person, and visited Brown at the Shepherd Center on Monday.

"Well, obviously it started when I saw the hit on the news and I heard about him being injured like that," said Bergeron. "Especially playing hockey, it touched me right away and I wanted to send a note to him and send a jersey as well.

"So we did that through the Bruins and it got to him. After that, I just heard that he was sent to Atlanta to get better for rehab and stuff...[and] I figured it was a perfect day to come and meet him. Obviously, we asked and the Bruins have spoken to his parents to make sure that we could come meet him and not bother him in his rehab and he accepted it.

"So I was happy to have the chance to meet him, and we did and it was a wonderful experience."

Bergie also created the Patrice's Pals Program which brings patients from local hospitals and other children's organizations to the TD Garden to experience a Bruins home game where these deserving children are able to feel the excitement of a professional hockey game as VIP guests.

I'm sure some of you may already know, but Patrice is the Bruins own cover boy!!  He appeared on the December 2008 issue of "The Improper Bostonian" for which he got grief from his teammates, of course!!  BUT LOOK AT THAT COVER SHOT - NICE!!!

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