Bergeron: Patience Will Be A Virtue During Recovery

BOSTON - Patrice Bergeron admits that patience is not quite his virtue at the moment. And who could blame him.
With the Bruins about to hit the home stretch, their alternate captain received some difficult news on Tuesday when the team announced that he suffered a fractured right foot over the weekend and would be evaluated in two weeks.

"Patience is the key word right now so it can heal quickly - and lots of prayers," said Bergeron, who arrived to his media session at Warrior Ice Arena on crutches. "I want to be out there as quick as possible….right now, patience is the key word…I'm gonna work on it, it's probably not one of my qualities."
Bergeron, who many around the league have mentioned in the discussion for the league's MVP, leads the Bruins with 27 goals this season and is third on the team with 54 points in 55 games.
"There were discussion that he was up for the Hart, for the MVP of the league, so obviously it's gonna hurt," said Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy. "But we've been through this a bit earlier in the year where we've had to other guys step up. We don't expect one person to replace Bergy. It has to be done by committee and that includes his line mates, [Brad Marchand] and [David Pastrnak], as well."

The injury occurred on Saturday night in Toronto when Bergeron blocked a Maple Leafs clearing attempt. He remained in the game and went on to play 19:15 with two assists. Following the 4-3 loss, Bergeron had an X-ray that was negative.
The 32-year-old felt well enough to play on Sunday, though he did have some discomfort during 17 minutes, 59 seconds of ice time in the team's loss to Buffalo.
"To me, it was just a matter of getting into the skate and then get on the ice. After that, you just make it work. That's the way I was looking at it," said Bergeron. "I didn't know on Sunday…usually it goes away after a little bit. During the game, it was there the whole time."
When Bergeron woke up on Monday with soreness, the medical staff decided to take another image of the foot.
"[Monday] it was still pretty sore," said Bergeron. "I spoke to the doctors and we decided to take another image and do a CT scan in stead of the X-ray and it revealed that it was fractured. From there we took a different path."
So for at least the next two weeks, the Bruins will be without their best player as they try to right ship following a rough 2-3-0 road trip.
"When you miss a guy like that, you can't replace him," said Marchand. "He does so much for our team. And obviously he's having a phenomenal year. It's gonna be tough to miss him for a bit, but we still have a good team. We've rallied all year and that's what we have to do.
"We're at crunch time now - 25 games or whatever left. We have to win regardless. Everyone just has to step up a little bit better and do more and try to fill that void a little bit."
Boston has plenty of experience with battling through adversity this season. The first six weeks were filled with injuries to some of the team's best players, with Bergeron, Marchand, Tuukka Rask, David Krejci, and David Backes also missing significant time.
"It's time - which we talked about - to get back to our identity of where we were in the middle of the season," said Cassidy. "Not from the start because we had to work through there. Learn from the start, playing without certain people, but get back to that type of game….we have to get back to being a more consistent group."

The Bruins will also rely on their depth, which was solidified over the past few days with general manager Don Sweeney's additions of Rick Nash, Nick Holden, Brian Gionta, and Tommy Wingels.
"We have amazing depth…I have full confidence that they're gonna be fine and do a great job," said Bergeron. "This weekend's adversity is a good challenge for us. I think it's good that we're facing that before the last stretch and I think it's gonna build character - we've shown a lot this year."
With Bergeron out, Riley Nash will slide up to play the middle between Marchand and Pastrnak on Boston's top line. Nash, who filled in for Bergeron earlier this season, has a career-high 10 goals and 28 points this season.
"He's like a mini Bergy," said Marchand. "He plays a very similar game, very talented and very good two-way player. It will be fun to play with Nasher. We've played together a couple times earlier this year. He's been very hot lately too."
Tommy Wingels, who was acquired from the Chicago Blackhawks prior to Monday's trade deadline, will occupy Nash's spot between Backes and Danton Heinen. Wingels and Backes will split center responsibilities.
"Backs might certainly move into the middle at times," said Cassidy. "It's more committee now. We've got to move a few pieces, you're fitting pieces in from the deadline. And now with Bergy out, obviously - I'm not gonna sit here and lie to you, it creates a hole, but we feel we can fill it, we're just gonna do it with different people in different situations."
The Bruins hope they won't have to fill Bergeron's spot for long. But for now, patience will most certainly be a virtue.
"Our goal is to get into the playoffs and obviously have a long run," said Bergeron. "Sweens has made that statement as well with the acquisitions. Obviously it's my goal as well.
"I guess time will tell. I want to make sure I'm healthy and ready to go and help the team. But I also want to get back out there as quickly as possible."