Continuing our Boston Bruins 2021 Player Grades series, we now look at center Patrice Bergeron in his first season as team captain.
Over his 17-year NHL career, Patrice Bergeron has been the model of consistency. He has consistently put up at least 50 points besides four seasons (these four were either his rookie season or shortened from injury or lockout).
To go along with his impressive offensive stats, Bergeron has also been great when it comes to defense. He has never won less than 50% of his faceoffs and has won a record-tying four Selke Trophies.
Nothing was different for Bergeron this season, even with it being his first season as captain of the B’s. Of course, the pressure of captaincy was never expected to hinder Bergeron’s performance as he’s basically been the team’s co-captain for the last 14 years.
Patrice Bergeron continued his Hall-of-Fame career for the Bruins in 2020-21.
As I mentioned earlier, Bergeron was great again this season. He played in every game but two and scored 23 goals and 48 points. Three of his 23 goals came shorthanded as him and Brad Marchand continued to be a lethal penalty-killing duo.
Bergeron also continued to be amazing in the faceoff circles, winning an outstanding 62.2% of his faceoffs. He was so good at faceoffs this season that New York Islanders’ head coach Barry Trotz accused him of cheating during their second-round playoff series.
In the playoffs, Bergeron continued his strong play, scoring four goals and nine points in 11 games. He also won nearly 55% of his faceoffs.
Additionally, Bergeron was once again a finalist for the Selke Trophy — a record 10th season in a row — but was ultimately robbed of what would’ve been his record-breaking fifth Selke as many voters, including Mark Lazerus, just seem bored of him being on the ballot.
Overall, Bergeron was once again one of the best players on the Bruins. He was great in every zone and should’ve won a fifth Selke. Furthermore, his leadership was recognized as he won the Mark Messier Leadership Award.
Grade: A