Jun 22, 2013; Chicago, IL, USA; Boston Bruins center Patrice Bergeron (37) during the first period in game five of the 2013 Stanley Cup Final against the Chicago Blackhawks at the United Center. Mandatory Credit: Rob Grabowski-USA TODAY Sports
It’s clear to Bruins Nation that Patrice Bergeron is the heart and soul of this team. There was rampant speculation among many of us that this was #37’s year to end up with the Bruins captaincy. Bergeron has been an outstanding leader, and has done a lot to shape the careers of two other famous Bruins, Brad Marchand and Tyler Seguin. It was a blow to all of us when Bergeron had to leave the ice in the second period, and then to find out (through Pierre McGuire of all people) that Bergeron had been taken to the hospital.
I am not sure at what point the injury occurred in the second period. All I saw was that Bergy played two shifts, and then skated off the ice. At the moment, there is no status on Bergeron, or what his current condition is. Even coach Claude Julien had no information on Bergeron’s condition.“Well, no update. I think there’s no concern until you get an update,” said Julien, after the game. “As far as we’re concerned, he’s just getting evaluated right now. Not much I can say on his situation.”
Naturally, the media decided to pry into Julien’s head to see if any more information was available, and it did lead to Julien to respond curtly. “It’s just an injury that wasn’t able to let him finish the game,” Julien explained. “He may be in next game. I’m not going there.”
Bergeron’s injury led to a temporary promotion of one of the Bruins’ newest acquisitions, Carl Soderberg. Soderberg had started out in the fourth line tonight, replacing Kaspars Daugavins who was a healthy scratch. When Bergeron left the game, Claude Julien bumped him up to the second line to skate with Brad Marchand and Jaromir Jagr.
“He showed me enough to be able to move into Bergy’s spot,” said Julien. “I thought he played well, and although there wasn’t maybe the chemistry that you see with that line usually because it’s his first time, certainly not disappointed in the way he played tonight.”
In the end though, the Bruins fell to the Blackhawks 3-1. Game six will be back in the TD Garden where the Bruins will need to recover from its first two consecutive game loss since the Toronto series.