Bergeron gets the Bruins Blog this year.

March 7, 2013; Boston, MA USA; Boston Bruins center

(37) skates at center ice during the first period against the Toronto Maple Leafs at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports

ESPNBoston.com has asked members of the Boston Bruins to do a diary blog for them the last few seasons. For the last two years, that job went to Bruins forward Brad Marchand. This year, the blog has fallen to Marchand’s fellow linemate Patrice Bergeron. It’s a great look inside the mind of one of the best two way players in hockey today. It’s more intimate, and let’s you know what is going on inside his head. (Sort of like NHL 36, but without the narration and goofy side dialogue.)

Patrice Bergeron addresses one concern he feels is unfair. Marchand (and a very sizeable percentage of Bruins Nation) have called Patrice Bergeron ‘perfect’. Well, # 37 disagrees with that. In his own words:

“I heard he[Marchand] described me as perfect.  I’m here to set the record straight that no, I am not.  Obviously no one is and I’m not myself. To prove it, I’ll tell you a bad habit and that is I’m messy. I leave my stuff in the kitchen. I don’t clean up much and leave stuff around the house. “

All things considered, as long as he plays the way he does he can act like Tyler Seguin in Switzerland for all I care.

It’s nice to see a player who is usually quiet and reserved open up to fans on a more personal level. If you ever look on Twitter, you will see hundreds of Bruins fans with their picture of them and Bergeron. He’s a fan favorite because he sincerely loves and respects the fans. It’s great to see that side of Bergy. He also opened up about a couple of firsts in his life. While his marriage was number one, there was another first he shared with Bruins Nation.

“There’s something else that happened over the summer. I got my first tattoo. I spent seven hours in the chair getting it. It was long but wasn’t too bad. The tattoo is a protector, like a guardian that looks after me. It says “master of your destiny” in French. You can translate it as “control your own destiny” or “master of your fate.” It means to me that you have to believe in yourself. You’re the only one who can dictate your future. If you believe in something and if you have dreams or something that you’re aiming for, you go out there and work hard to achieve it and to get it.  That’s how it speaks to me.”

Works for me. Besides the average ink quota dipped sharply with the departure of Nathan Horton, Andrew Ference, and Tyler Seguin. Bergeron won’t be on the ice tonight, but we’re all looking forward to seeing our assistant captain on the ice for the Black and Gold.