Bergeron will be ready for Bruins camp, Selke finalist had surgery

LAS VEGAS-- Patrice Bergeron had groin surgery 10 days ago, and the Boston Bruins center is feeling a little anxious about the training time he's missing.
His coach is not.

"I'm talking to him]*
Bergeron completed his 14th NHL season with the Bruins having played 963 regular-season and 112 Stanley Cup Playoff games. He played healthy and injured, often drawing the opponent's best line.
Bergeron said he took a couple of weeks off after the Bruins were eliminated by the Tampa Lightning in the Eastern Conference Second Round on May 6. When he began training, he had some issues and had the surgery. He said he expects to be ready for the start of training camp in mid-September.

"You're forced to take some time off, but sometimes it's not a bad thing," Bergeron said with a shrug. "I'm looking on the bright side and hoping this is just helping the recovery and making sure I'm feeling good. My guess is I'll be back on skates hopefully in early August."
Bergeron is here for the 2018 NHL Awards Presented by Hulu at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Las Vegas on Wednesday (8 p.m. ET; NBCSN, SN). It's one of the NHL's traditions of late spring: Bergeron is a nominee for the Selke Trophy, awarded to the forward voted to best excel in the defensive aspects of hockey.
For a record-setting seventh straight season, Bergeron is a finalist for the award, his four victories tying him with Montreal Canadiens center Bob Gainey for most in history. Bergeron's seventh consecutive season as a finalist moved him past former Detroit Red Wings forward Pavel Datsyuk, who was a finalist six times between 2008-13.
Bergeron considered hearing his name in the same breath as Gainey and Datsyuk and shook his head in mild disbelief.
"I had some tremendous battles against Datsyuk, an amazing player who was so skilled and so hard to contain," Bergeron said at media day for the awards. "Mr. Gainey was named one of the top 100 players in NHL history, so it's incredibly special to be mentioned with him. I look up to both of these guys more than I feel that I'm on their level."
That's a modest point of view, because Bergeron is one of the greatest two-way forwards in NHL history. He is a finalist for the Selke with first-time finalist Sean Couturier, a center with the Philadelphia Flyers, and Los Angeles Kings center Anze Kopitar, the Selke winner in 2016 who is a finalist for the fourth time in five seasons.
Bergeron, who turns 33 Sunday, said the thrill of being a nominee never gets stale.
"It's always fun," he said.
Cassidy, a finalist for the Jack Adams Award as NHL coach of the year, said he doesn't try to quantify the value of Bergeron to the Bruins, saying simply that the veteran "makes his wingers better every night and holds everybody accountable, which as a coach you love."

Upon the Selke's introduction in 1978, and Gainey winning it the first four years of its existence, it was seen more as an award that rewarded a forward's defensive excellence. Today, Cassidy said, the prize is more about two-way play.
"You have to put up numbers to get nominated, which speaks to just how difficult it is to play on both sides of the puck," he said.
In Bergeron's Selke-winning seasons of 2012, 2014, 2015 and 2017, he scored 22, 30, 23 and 21 goals and 64, 62, 55 and 53 points. This season, he had 63 points (30 goals, 33 assists) in 64 games.
"[Bergeron] plays against the other team's best line just about every night," Cassidy said. "We try to unburden him from time to time so it's not too stressful over six and a half months, but he's up for the task every night."
Cassidy is having some of the younger Bruins follow Bergeron and captain Zdeno Chara in the gym, "learning things that they can emulate. These are guys you need to learn from. Learning from the best is invaluable.
"[Bergeron] can dig deep. It's well documented how much pain he's played through. He's the guy who can always dig a little deeper, and he does. This guy has already won. He's been there but he wants it again and again and again. That's what you want these young guys to appreciate. You want them to feel his pain as well."
Bergeron is enjoying the moment, one he's experienced the past six years.
"The first year I was just trying to soak everything in, which I'm still trying to do," he said. "I know a little more what's expected and what will unfold. But I'm always humbled to be nominated. It's a cliché to say this, but it's the truth: You're here because of your teammates and the work that you do as a team and the success that you have. I appreciate this and I'm very thankful for it."