Adamant Patrice Bergeron ‘not trying to make a comeback’

Jan 22, 2024, 05:01 PM ET

Patrice Bergeron spending every Friday on the ice with a group of friends and former NHL players in the Boston area sparked some online chatter last week that the former Bruins captain might be planning a dramatic return.

That, however, is not in the cards.

“No, it is not happening,” Bergeron said in an interview with The Canadian Press. “I’m not making a comeback, not trying to make a comeback.”

Bergeron said anyone watching the skates would know there’s no truth to the comeback rumors.

“It’s a slow pace,” he said with a laugh.

Bergeron, who retired in July a day after turning 38, played 19 seasons with the Bruins. He helped them win the Stanley Cup in 2011 and reach the final in 2013 and 2019.

He spent his last three seasons in Boston as captain, succeeding Zdeno Chara. Bergeron is now working with Kraft Hockeyville, a program that has awarded Canadian communities more than $4.8 million to maintain or upgrade sports and recreation infrastructure — including arenas — over the past 18 years.

“I’ve seen the impact, first-hand, hockey can have,” Bergeron said. “A place where people would gather. There were a lot of free skates for people to learn. We want it to be more accessible and find ways to grow the game we all love.”

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At peace with his decision to retire, Bergeron said his hockey-tuned body clock started to get antsy in August when the 6-foot-1, 196-pound forward normally would have been ramping up for the season.

“It was telling me: ‘Hey you should be somewhere right now … what’s going on?'” he said. “But I feel like I am where I should be.”

Bergeron, who won Olympic gold with Canada in 2010 and 2014 and was part of the team that won the 2016 World Cup of Hockey, said his love for the game hasn’t wavered.

“Wish I could play forever,” he said. “There’s no second guessing or thinking, ‘Did I do the right thing?'”

At the time of his retirement, Bruins president Cam Neely told reporters that he tried to get Bergeron to…

Source link : https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/39364681/adamant-patrice-bergeron-not-trying-make-comeback

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Publish date : 2024-01-22 22:05:54

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