Patrice Bergeron plans to take some time before deciding his future following Bruins’ first-round exit
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In what could have been his final skate on the TD Garden ice in a Bruins sweater, a tearful Patrice Bergeron embraced his longtime teammate Brad Marchand.
Before heading down the tunnel, the Bruins captain raised his stick in acknowledgment to a heartbroken TD Garden crowd — a crushing end to a season filled with so much promise.
Beyond the pain of a record-setting regular season unraveling in the first round of the playoffs, Boston’s Game 7 loss to the Panthers might have closed the book on this fruitful chapter in this Original Six franchise’s history.
Both Bergeron and David Krejci are 37 years old. Both are free agents once again, and both pivots have remained fixated on this current campaign when previously pressed about their future.
Following Boston’s 4-3 overtime defeat, Bergeron once again remained noncommittal about whether or not he plans to return for a 20th NHL campaign.
“Yeah, gotta take some time and talk with the family and go from there,” Bergeron said. “It’s too — right now it’s hard to process anything, right? Obviously, we’re shocked and disappointed. That’s it.”
Bergeron acknowledged that he played in Boston’s first-round series with a herniated disc in his back — which kept him out of the Bruins’ lineup for four games.
“It’s definitely not something I’ll use as an excuse,” Bergeron said. “It is what it is and everyone battles with a lot of things during the playoffs and it’s just unfortunate the way that it happened on a fluke play.”
It remains to be seen what the future holds for both Bergeron and a Bruins team that put all of its chips on the table in search of one last run in 2023.
Beyond his impact on the ice, Marchand praised Bergeron’s ability to cultivate an accountable, team-first culture off the ice that left an imprint on everyone in Boston’s dressing room.
“It’s really changed the way that I approach my day-to-day life and the way I approach the game, so I’ll never be able to say enough great things about him,” Marchand said of Bergeron. “He allowed me to be in this position to play alongside him for a long time and he’s an incredible person and friend, an incredible teammate and we’ve been lucky to have him as part of this group for a long time.
“He completely changed the way that I live my day-to-day life and tried to be like him, try to follow in his footsteps, and try to lead the way he did … I’ll forever be grateful for him.”
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The post Patrice Bergeron plans to take some time before deciding his future following Bruins’ first-round exit appeared first on Boston.com.