Bergeron, Babcock familiar foes entering Game 4 for Bruins, Maple Leafs

TORONTO -- Boston Bruins center Patrice Bergeron was 18 years old when he was coached by Mike Babcock for the first time. The result: a gold medal with Canada at the 2004 World Hockey Championship in the Czech Republic.

Bergeron has played for Babcock on three other occasions and won then, too: gold medals with Canada at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics and the 2014 Sochi Olympics, and a championship with Team Canada at the World Cup of Hockey 2016.
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Now Bergeron is in the Stanley Cup Playoffs trying to defeat Babcock, the coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs, not win for him. No one understands better than Bergeron how difficult that will be for the Bruins, who lead 2-1 in the Eastern Conference First Round heading into Game 4 of the best-of-7 series here Thursday (7 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, TVAS, NESN).
"He's always finding the way to get the best out of his players," Bergeron said Wednesday. "That's why I do think we need to be on our toes. I do have an idea [of] how he's handling things and how he's acting."
Bergeron pointed to the changes Babcock made after the Bruins opened the series with 5-1 and 7-3 victories in Boston. The Bruins' first line of Bergeron, Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak combined for 20 points in those games, causing Babcock to move veteran center Tomas Plekanec up to the Maple Leafs' second line between Mitchell Marner and Patrick Marleau for Game 3 on Monday.
With Toronto having the final change at home, Babcock's decision to match Plekanec's line against Bergeron's was significant in the Maple Leafs' 4-2 win. Marleau scored twice, Marner had two assists, and Plekanec had an assist and played 17:58, up from 11:38 in Game 2 and 10:07 in Game 1.

Bergeron's line did not have a point and was minus-7.
"Having played for him, you knew he would make adjustments," Bergeron said. "You kind of know how he's handled situations in those international tournaments and you kind of guess that that's how he's still handling the playoffs and an NHL franchise.
"I remember playing for him at the 2004 Worlds. It was great. He was so demanding. He still is. He expects you to make the play, to be in position within the system. Even as a young guy who scored just one goal, I felt it was a great tournament."
Even if his coach didn't know much about him.
"In '04, the first time I had him, I didn't even know who he was," Babcock said. "He was just a kid who played in the NHL and was a real good player at that time."
Six years later, Babcock had become one of Bergeron's biggest supporters and lobbied Team Canada management to include him on the 2010 and 2014 Olympic teams. Though he played limited shifts with Crosby in 2010, Bergeron spent much of the tournament as Canada's 13th forward. It was not until 2014 that Bergeron and Crosby became regular linemates for Canada.

Bergeron had one assist in Vancouver and two in Sochi, but Babcock valued his defense. It's easy to see why. Bergeron was named one of three finalists for the 2018 Selke Trophy, awarded to the top defensive forward in the NHL, with Sean Couturier of the Philadelphia Flyers and Anze Kopitar of the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday. He's won it four times (2012, 2014, 2015, 2017).
Babcock put Marchand on a line with Bergeron and Crosby at the World Cup of Hockey 2016, and they combined for 25 points. Crosby (10 points; three goals, seven assists), Marchand (eight points; five goals, three assists) and Bergeron (seven points; four goals, three assists) were the top three scorers in the tournament.
"Just to be picked for that 2010 team helped my confidence," Bergeron said. "Coach Babcock put his trust in me to put me on that team. Four years later, he puts you on the same line as the best player in the world and your confidence goes up even more.
"It was the same thing with the World Cup. I was expecting to be with Brad on one of the lines, but I wasn't expecting to be with Sid on that first unit. Once again, it's a confidence builder."
For his part, Babcock said he's learned about Bergeron -- and Marchand -- from his time with them.
"They're competitive people that have real good hockey sense, that make good plays and like to win," Babcock said. "That's why those guys are going to be better (in Game 4). They've been through it all. The experience, they're going to respond.
"In the same way, isn't that what this is all about [for us]? This is all about growing your group here and having a great opportunity. We're playing in our barn, there's going to be a great crowd -- the national anthem was unbelievable the other night, just scary good. Then we got off to a good start. We need to do the same.
"They're going to be good."