Sitting inside the TD Garden interview room last Tuesday morning, Patrice Bergeron said goodbye.
For 19 years, the Ancienne-Lorette, Quebec, native pulled on the spoked B sweater and both performed and represented the Boston Bruins with dignity, class, and aplomb.
“Thank you for everything,” said Bergeron. “It’s been an absolute honor.
“When you get drafted, you never know where you’re going to end up, what the journey’s going to be like, so it’s a dream as I said many times and I couldn’t be more grateful and thankful for being here, arriving as a 18-year-old kid, young adult and not knowing too much, whether it’s language or even the adult life really, and the city really took me under its wing and embraced me and it’s been special.
“So, the fans and everyone I’m thankful for, for the memories and everything you guys have brought to me and my family.”
And, in return, they are grateful for his meritorious service.
There was the 2011 Stanley Cup championship-winning team for whom he centered the top line. The six Selke trophies as the league’s best defensive forward. Three All-Star Game appearances. Four hundred twenty-seven goals and six hundred thirteen assists for one thousand forty points.
Simply one of the best players and among the best men to ever gain employment with the Bruins, Bergeron’s No. 37 will one day reside in the rafters alongside the franchise’s other legends.
“The Bruins history is something that is always going to mean a lot to me,” Bergeron said.
EXECUTIVE:
ART ROSS: Three Cups. Eight berths in the Cup Final. Twenty-four Stanley Cup Playoff appearances. Seven division championships. And the league’s scoring title is named in his honor. Any questions?
COACH:
ART ROSS: Valid arguments can be made for Pat Burns, Claude Julien, Bruce Cassidy, Harry Sinden, Tom Johnson, and Don Cherry. But Ross won two of his three Cups while serving as GM and coach. There is also the small matter of 303 regular-season wins and another 23 in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
LEFT WING:
BRAD MARCHAND: We at OSDBSports.com are history buffs. As such, we tend to give the benefit of the doubt to the athletes who played in the era where trains and buses and commercial flights shepherded teams from city to city. Alas, any argument for anyone not with the surname Marchand is flawed. Sometime next season Marchand will score his 400th goal and record his 500th assist. All while being the pre-eminent agitator of his era.
CENTER:
PATRICE BERGERON: See the lede to this column.
RIGHT WING:
CAM NEELY: The president of hockey operations for the organization also happens to be the blueprint for what a power winger should be. After spending his first three seasons in Vancouver, the Bruins acquired Neely and a 1987 first-round pick used to select Glen Wesley for Barry Pederson. All Neely did in 10 injury-shortened seasons in Boston -- go to YouTube and search for Ulf Samuelsson’s hit on Cam Neely -- was average 0.58 goals per game in 525 regular season games, including three 50-goal seasons.
DEFENSEMEN:
BOBBY ORR AND RAYMOND BOURQUE: Orr is the standard bearer for what a defenseman could – and should -- be. Pre-Orr, defensemen rarely jumped in the play. And then Orr came along and revolutionized the game. Limited to just 631 games due to injuries, Orr averaged 1.407 points per game in 10 seasons with the Bruins. Bourque, who played 21 of his 23 NHL seasons with the Bruins, is the franchise’s all-time leader for defensemen in goals (395), assists (1,111), and points (1,506).
GOALIE:
GERRY CHEEVERS: Statistically, Tuukka Rask has more wins and made more saves than any other netminder in franchise history. Linus Ullmark has the highest save percentage in team history. Tim Thomas backstopped the Bruins to their first Cup in 39 seasons in 2011. And all take a backseat to Cheevers, who was Boston’s No. 1 goalie when the Big Bad Bruins ran roughshod over the NHL.
