Boston Bruins: Why Patrice Bergeron is greatness beyond the ice

A few things immediately pop into my head when asked, ‘What makes Patrice Bergeron great?’ I could talk about the fact that he has been on my hometown team, the Boston Bruins, for as long as I can remember.

I could talk about how he is now the captain of the Big Bad Bruins and has led his team through some tough challenges this past year, or the fact that he has played one thousand two hundred and sixteen games pairing with nine hundred and eighty-two points, four hundred of those points being goals.

If you follow the NHL, Bergeron is no hidden gem; he has made his presence known every time he steps on the ice and is one of the better teammates anyone has ever seen skate through the National Hockey League.

For any Bruins fan, you would know that Bergeron has been struggling with injuries and was contemplating where he would end up and what he would do with his career after his most recent season played in 2021-2022.

After losing in the Stanley Cup playoffs in a 3-2 loss in game seven against the Carolina Hurricanes, Bergeron contemplated retirement and told reporters that he was unsure what would come next for his career. However, I am not here to discuss his on-ice play and how the face of Bruins hockey was contemplating his 19th season.

Boston Bruins star Patrice Bergeron is great beyond the ice

I am here to talk about how Bergeron gives back to his community and how as a young hockey player at the age of 10, he told me to never stop fighting for my dreams.

At the time, I was a newly diagnosed diabetic living in the hospital room on the sixth floor of Children’s Hospital Boston. I remember waking up to a piercing bright light from the window only to realize that it had started snowing overnight and did not look like it was stopping anytime soon. It was days before Christmas, and all the nurses had on Christmas-themed scrubs or headbands to brighten up Christmas for the kids who would be spending the holiday in hospital beds.

"“Never lose your faith, kiddo, keep your head high, and always chase your dreams.” – Patrice Bergeron"

My favorite spot to hang out on my floor was the arts and crafts room and not because I could escape the four walls I had been living in for the past week, but because I was able to openly and freely express my emotions and dreams on the blank canvases in front of me.

On this particular snowy day, we had a few surprise guests come into the arts and crafts room after saying hello to everyone on the sixth floor.

Wearing Santa hats and carrying a sack over his shoulder with small plush toys inside, Patrice Bergeron placed his things down and took off his hat before taking a seat at the children’s table I had been sitting at. He asked my name, where I was from, and my interests; never once did he ask why I was in the hospital or if I would be staying in the hospital for Christmas like many other people did when they visited.

Instead, he focused on what made me happy; we began chatting about hockey and the Boston Bruins most recent season, and my eyes lit up immediately.

Before he left the floor I had been on and the craft room that I was in, he looked at me and looked at the Christmas ornament I had been decorating and told me, “never lose your faith, kiddo, keep your head high, and always chase your dreams.”

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My point here is not to talk about my personal experience with Bergeron over ten years ago; the point of this entire story is to recognize that Bergeron is a man for his city, the city of Boston.

A city where he has spent half of his life playing the game that he loves, a city where he has now built a family and a home where they will share countless memories.

So what makes Patrice Bergeron great, one may ask? I would say his character, how he carries himself in public, and the actions he takes to better his community.

Although the day is not today, there will be a time when Bergeron will hang up his skates, and when that day comes, Bergeron will still be recognized as one of the greats because of the man he was on and off the ice.