I turned to my analyst Mike Milbury — a guy who’s been around the game for decades — and said: “Did you see that? Do players pick up the hats when they score a hat trick?”
I thought for sure I would have noticed if they did by now. And when Mike told me he had no idea, I knew I wasn’t the only one.
So I dug a little deeper after the game. As it turns out, the Bruins have a stuffed bear head mounted on the wall of their medical room. Every time one of the players has a hat trick, they pick one hat that was thrown on the ice, sign and date it, and then hang it on the bear head. To date, there are roughly 30-40 hats.
Sometimes, guys grab the hat from the ice directly. Sometimes, guys wait for after the game and go through the bag of hats that the bull gang collects.
I happened to catch Bergy red-handed, picking out his hat.
At a young 25 years of age, Patrice Bergeron has accomplished a lot in his hockey career. When he was 20, he became the youngest player in Bruins team history to record a 30-goal season.
He played for Team Canada in the world championships in both 2004, while winning a gold medal, and in 2006. Bergeron then represented Canada at the 2005 world junior championships, becoming the first Canadian player ever to play in a world championship before a world junior championship. He won a gold medal at the world junior championships, was named the tournament’s most valuable player, made the all-tournament team and led the tournament in scoring.
Then, just last winter, Bergeron won the gold medal with Team Canada at the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver.
Pretty remarkable stats for a 25-year-old.
With 418 games of NHL experience and 312 points (112-200) since he entered the league in 2003, it’s hard to believe that Bergeron had never scored a hat trick before Tuesday night.
No matter what online score sheet you looked at (multiple changes to the goal scorers in the game resulted in Bruins fans tossing their hats twice onto the ice in celebration of Bergeron’s hat trick), the Bruins’ alternate captain left the building with a grand total of three goals.
And don’t think Bergeron didn’t notice that fans had tossed their hats twice, when his second goal of the night appeared to go off teammate Blake Wheeler’s stick.
“Now everyone is leaving the building with no hats on,” he said. “I wanted to get it because everyone threw their hats on the ice.”
That he did. Bergeron scored 5:04 into the third period to ensure that fans were satisfied with their hat tossing. It’s the kind of person No. 37 is for this Bruins organization. Both on and off the ice, the example that Bergeron sets for his teammates and the city of Boston is second to none.
“I think Bergy is probably one of the most consistent and most focused players that I’ve played with or really even seen,” rookie Tyler Seguin said after Tuesday night’s 6-0 shutout over Ottawa. “Practice in, practice out, games, he’s always playing that same way. He deserved that hat trick. We’re all happy that he got it.”
The rest of team agreed.
“It’s nice to see him rewarded for all the hard work, and I’m talking about the early days,” Tim Thomas said. “I was with Bergy during his first training camp, and to see how far he’s come, through the setbacks and the triumphs. Every time when you see something like this with him, with a guy you’ve played with that much, it’s something special. It’s great.”
I was a little surprised to learn it was Bergeron’s first NHL hat trick. I thought for sure with his eight years as a pro and success up to this point, he would have scored one by now. But all good things come to those who wait. The three-pack on Tuesday night gives Bergeron five goals and three assists in his last four games and 13 goals this year.
It couldn’t have happened to a better person, who always puts team accomplishments above his own personal accolades.
“I’m trying to bring as much as I can for our team to win and get some success as a team,” he said. “We have a stretch here before the All-Star break, and we obviously want to get some wins. I’m trying to do that. I’m trying to get some momentum.”
And when asked if he personally was happy to score a hat trick, he answered as one would expect.
“To be honest, I never really thought about it,” he said. “I don’t really stop to think about those individual goals, but it’s always nice to have it out of the way.”
Twenty-five years old and so polished.
Bergeron and his teammates were rewarded on Tuesday night for a solid 60-minute effort. They had strong forechecking, all four lines were moving their feet well and they played solid defense that gave Thomas his NHL-leading sixth shutout of the season.
Considering what the Bruins did on Monday night in Pittsburgh and how they played Tuesday night at the TD Garden to begin their four-game homestand, the positive signs are showing for this Bruins team.
Now let’s hope that the momentum carries over to Thursday night’s tough opponent, the Eastern Conference-leading Philadelphia Flyers, who are riding a four-game winning streak into this battle.
And here’s hoping the stuffed bear in the Bruins medical room is outfitted with more caps.
