About 40 minutes before Bruins’ main practice began on Friday, a familiar face from the club’s not-too-distant past stepped on to the ice.
Decked out in standard coach’s gear of track suit and baseball cap, Patrice Bergeron skated to his familiar spot on the bumper at the inside line of the right faceoff circle and started firing off the quick one-time half-clapper that he had perfected when he manned the middle of the B’s power play.
He wasn’t doing it for fun. He was giving pointers to Fraser Minten and Morgan Geekie, both of whom have seen time in that spot. Bergeron left the ice before the main session began.
Bergeron’s legacy may rest with the six Selke Awards he won as the top defensive forward but, as his career progressed, he became deadly in the bumper. Not a bad resource for the current Bruins to have. And it turns out that wasn’t the first time Bergeron has stopped by to help out.
“Lots of good stuff,” said Minten. “It’s our second time we’ve done that with him. It was the first time doing the bumper stuff on the ice, just trying to get the reps with that and listen to his insight. He obviously spent a lot of time doing it really well so you take little things you can from that. We were watching some faceoff video with him, too, just trying to continually improve. He was obviously one of the best faceoff guys when he played. He knows a lot more than I do. Just trying to listen and learn.”
When the B’s power play was at its peak during Bergeron’s time, the wow moments usually came on a one-timer from David Pastrnak on the elbow, or an incredible move by Brad Marchand or Torey Krug coming down form the blue line and making a play. But Bergeron made it all click. As Minten sees it, the bumper role is becoming increasingly important as teams now try to take away the elbow threats.
“A lot of goals are scored from there on power play these days, especially with how many teams run diamond penalty kills. That space ends up being low and into the slot where you can bury them. Just working on getting those things perfected as much as you can so that when you get the chance you can finish them off,” said Minten.
Before Geekie arrived in Boston, his power-play work had been almost exclusively on the bumper. As his slapper became more of a weapon, he was moved out on to the elbow. He’s bounced around but he has a deep appreciation for what Bergeron brings to the table.
“He was a staple on the bumper for a long time here and, at least for me, revolutionized how that was played, being a threat to score as well as supporting all over,” said Geekie. “Just a different way to think about it and add some tools to our game. It’s always good when you have a legend like that to teach you some things.”
Bergeron is the third face from the 2011 Stanley Cup team to have a hand in the current team. Chris Kelley has been an assistant coach on the staff dating back to 2021-22 under Bruce Cassidy, Zdeno Chara has become a regular off-ice contributor to the staff starting late last year and now Bergeron has been asked for his two cents.
“It’s great,” said Geekie. “We’ve got a bunch of them. It’s one of those organizations where guys seem to want to come back and give back to everybody that’s still a part of it. It speaks to the culture and what type of organization it is.”
Coach Marco Sturm, who was here as player when that 2011 team was building momentum in the previous seasons, has remained friends with Bergeron since the two were linemates and has brought him in from time to time.
“He’s not here every day like Z but, because it’s Bergeron, the best in the business, and also having a good relationship, I’ve tried to get him in here every once in a while just to give those guys a few tips and work on some stuff,” said Sturm. “I think it’s great. I just wanted to take that opportunity to pick his brain, because he’s the best.”
Whether or not Bergeron ever takes to a coach’s role on a more regular basis remains to be seen. As Sturm pointed out, he’s fully involved with his young kids’ lives at the moment. He’s also become a pitch man in some local ads.
“He’s good at it. He should be an actor,” said Sturm with a laugh.
But when the time is right for Bergeron, Sturm believes he could be an effective coach, if he wants it.
Said Sturm: “At one point, I could see him being back.”…
The murderer’s row of opponents for the B’s continues on Saturday against the Minnesota Wild at the Garden (5 pm). Marat Khusnutdinov, who was traded to Boston from Minnesota in the Justin Brazeau deal, will get to face the team that chose him 37th overall in 2020. Khusnutdinov is another one of the Bruin pro scouting staff’s success story. He went from a non-descript role to playing on the top line with Pastrnak and Minten, who also arrived at last year’s trade deadline.
“Now he’s not just a filler. He’s actually a big part of our team and of any line that he’s been on,” said Sturm. “He’s always been reliable. As a coach, you like those kinds of players because he does so many things. I think now he’s getting more and more comfortable, especially if you’re going to play with a guy like David. It’s not easy. But he’s not afraid to make plays. I’ve always liked that he will get pucks. You saw it in the last game. First goal (scored by Pastrnak against Buffalo), that was him. He’s just growing as a player and as a man. I really like where he’s at.”…
As the power play continues to struggle, Sturm said he’s been thinking of changing personnel, but he’s not there yet. The biggest problem lately has been on entries. On one unsuccessful power play in the Buffalo game on Tuesday, they abandoned the double-barreled entry and simply dumped the puck in.
“It goes both ways. You keep other teams honest and on the other side, too many turnovers. Let’s get it in and work for it. It’s a little bit of a combination,” said Sturm.