Patrice Bergeron and the Bruins were hoping for a storybook ending in 2023. So far, they’ve penned a masterpiece.
"I've never seen guys so dedicated to the team."
COMMENTARY
May 14, 2022, was still fresh in Patrice Bergeron’s mind as he fielded questions via Zoom last August.
It was the last time that the veteran pivot took to the ice in a Bruins sweater, and marked the closest this franchise has come to accepting that this fruitful contention window was finally slammed shut.
The 2021-22 Bruins might have been marred by the same flaws that thwarted previous Cup runs. But given the urgency surrounding their captain’s uncertain future, hope resided in the potential of this core penning a storybook ending.
Such a narrative was ripped apart down in Raleigh, with the sight of a solemn Bergeron embracing his teammates on the PNC Arena ice standing as a crushing way for a franchise star to conclude a Hall of Fame career.
Many athletes aren’t given the opportunity to dictate the terms of their grand exit from the game they love. Few stars get the chance to cap off a career with a title.
But for Bergeron, a first-round exit wasn’t going to be the final chapter of his legacy in Boston.
“I think the way that it ended in Game 7, it was hard for me to really think and say that this could have been my last game,” Bergeron said back in August. “And I had a hard time believing that. I think it was really hard for me to digest that part of it — ending it that way.”
Eight months later, Bergeron and the Bruins aren’t just scribbling together a reworked script for this seasoned roster.
Rather, they’re in the midst of crafting a masterpiece.
The 2022-23 Bruins secured their 63rd win in 80 games on Sunday evening against the Flyers. No other team in the 106-year history of the NHL has matched that total over an 82-game slate.
It’s been a season where the urgency rooted in this core’s potential last kick at the can has been aided by veteran mettle, a fresh perspective behind the bench, and every locker-room regular pulling on the same rope.
“Any time you’re talking about putting your team’s name and putting our spoked B in the history books with the most wins ever in our regular season — it’s special,” Jim Montgomery said postgame on Saturday. “And collectively, I think what’s made this season special is how hard our guys play for each other.
“So I think this record is reflective of — if you were thinking about the word team, I think we described the word team with the way we played this regular season.”
Sunday’s record-breaking performance was a microcosm of the manner in which Boston has laid siege to the rest of the NHL in 2022-23.
The usual suspects like Bergeron, David Krejci, and Brad Marchand have left their fingerprints all over this run.
But Boston dispatched the cellar-dwelling Flyers with key cogs like Bergeron, Krejci, Charlie McAvoy, Taylor Hall, Dmitry Orlov, and Linus Ullmark all resting their bones ahead of a promising playoff run.
In their absence, the Bruins still splintered Philly’s defense by way of David Pastrnak’s 58th, 59th and 60th tallies on the year.
Charlie Coyle, Boston’s revamped defensive equalizer, also lit the lamp, while Pavel Zacha — he of a career-high 36 points in 2021-22 with New Jersey — recorded his 57th point in his first run-through with Boston.
Ullmark might be the Vezina Trophy frontunnner, but Jeremy Swayman (34 saves against the Flyers) is now up to four shutouts and a .934 save percentage since Jan. 1.
Plenty can go wrong in a game like hockey, where Cup runs are routinely decided by a fortunate bounce or an ill-timed, bone-crunching injury.
The 2022-23 Bruins have been a rare outlier.
It would have been easy to discount this roster back in September.
Bringing back large segments of that same 2021-22 roster, just with another year of mileage tacked onto their treads, didn’t feel like a “Last Dance” type of run.
For the cynic, it bore the resemblance of a weathered band squeezing out whatever drop of nostalgia it had left with a final tour — even if their glory days were long passed.
But Bergeron and the Bruins dispelled such a notion.
Even with Marchand, McAvoy and Matt Grzelcyk on the shelf to open the season, Boston stormed out to a 12-2-0 start by the time all three returned to the ice.
Key players like Hampus Lindholm took on larger roles and blossomed into two-way juggernauts whenever they hopped over the boards.
Veterans like Bergeron and Krejci didn’t lose a step, driving play down the middle in Boston’s top-six unit. With Montgomery preaching positivity, younger players like Trent Frederic and Jake DeBrusk blossomed.
Belief started to build — as did the cheers with each goalie embrace on the TD Garden ice.
Ullmark and Nick Foligno, another year settled into their new abode, took off in their respective roles. Lineup regulars like former Hart Trophy winner Taylor Hall accepted a revamped role as a third-line winger.
Spurred by the success of their roster, Boston’s front-office staff bolstered an already imposing lineup by adding skill and sandpaper by way of deals for Orlov, Tyler Bertuzzi, and Garnet Hathaway.
At the center of it all has been a veteran leadership group — cognizant of the this contention window’s mortality, and anchored by a culture of accountability that has been embedded into the bedrock of the franchise.
“I think what they’ve taught me is how truly professional they are,” Montgomery said of his roster. “They’re incredible pros. I’ve never seen guys so dedicated to the team. And so dedicated to their individual performance.
“The standard here is unreal. And I credit Cam Neely and Sweens, but I also credit Claude Julien and Butch for maintaining that standard that Sweens and Cam have set and Zdeno Chara — hats off to him.”
Of course, this remarkable bit of prose will mean little if Bergeron and his teammates don’t hoist hockey’s top prize in June.
Murals aren’t painted for Presidents’ Trophy winners. Nor are 60-win rosters validated as true bastions of dominance, not unless they win that final game of the season.
“I wanted to come back because I still know that I have something left to give,” Bergeron said in August. “Because I want to come back with the Bruins because it’s my team. I love the city. I love the team. I love the guys and I want to make and do something special with them.”
Capturing 63 wins is a momentous achievement. But for Bergeron and his teammates to go out on their own terms, it’s going to take another 16 wins this spring.
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