Bruins’ Patrice Bergeron announces retirement after 19 seasons
"I can't imagine representing a better community or more passionate fan base than the Boston Bruins."
Bruins center Patrice Bergeron has retired, he announced in a statement on NHL.com on Tuesday.
“It is with a full heart and a lot of gratitude that today I am announcing my retirement as a professional hockey player,” Bergeron wrote.
It was a tough decision to walk away, writes Bergeron, who was drafted to the Bruins in 2003 and has been with the team ever since.
“As hard as it is to write, I also write it knowing how blessed and lucky I feel to have had the career that I have had, and that I have the opportunity to leave the game I love on my terms,” Bergeron wrote. “It wasn’t a decision that I came to lightly. But after listening to my body, and talking with my family, I know in my heart that this is the right time to step away from playing the game I love.”
Bergeron scored 1,040 points in 1,294 career games with the Bruins. The team captain had been with the Bruins since he was 18 years old.
“The amazing people of New England welcomed a young French Canadian who didn’t speak great English and you treated me like one of your own,” Bergeron wrote. “I can’t imagine representing a better community or more passionate fan base than the Boston Bruins. Your passion, your dedication and your kindness towards me and my family will never be forgotten.
“Please know that every time I took the ice I tried to compete for you the right way, and off the ice I tried the best that I could to give back to the community that supported me,” Bergeron continued. “The connections and friends that my family and I have made here are unquantifiable. Boston is, and will forever be, a special place for me and my family.”
Bergeron, 38, was the “preeminent two-way center of his generation, Matt Porter of The Boston Globe wrote.
He’s in the top-5 amongst all Bruins in games played, goals, points and assists. No one has won the Selke Trophy, which is given to a forward who excels in the defensive aspects of the game, more than Bergeron’s six times.
Bergeron took over as Bruins captain in 2021 after Zdeno Chara retired. He was also a key part of the Bruins’ 2011 Stanley Cup championship team.
“For the last 20 years I have been able to live my dream every day,” Bergeron said. “I have had the honor of playing in front of the best fans in the world wearing the Bruins uniform and representing my country at the highest levels of international play. I have given the game everything that I have physically and emotionally, and the game has given me back more than I could have ever imagined.”
The Bruins’ first-round Game 7 loss to the Florida Panthers ended up being Bergeron’s last game. He had a herniated disc during the series, according to the NHL.com post, which caused him to miss more than half of it. But, he still found the strength to lift his stick to the TD Garden crowd.
Bergeron said after the game that he would take time to talk to his family before making a decision on whether or not to play again. The Bruins set the NHL record for wins and points this season, making a return seem tempting.
But, in the end, Bergeron felt the time was right to retire. He had dreamed of becoming a professional hockey player since he was 12 years old, he wrote.
Now, after nearly two decades, he’ll be remembered as one of the best to wear a Bruins uniform.
“I was probably a little naive growing up, because in my mind this dream was never a question of if, but when it would happen,” Bergeron wrote. “The path to making my dreams come true was not easy. I faced adversity and made so many sacrifices, but throughout it all my love for the game only grew and my determination to achieve my goals always remained strong.”
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