Patrice Bergeron wasn't himself last offseason — a brain-rattling concussion will certainly do that to anyone. But this summer is different for the 24-year-old Bruin, who is able to say that he's 100 percent ready to go this fall for the B's.
Last summer, Bergie was still feeling the aftershock of the brutal concussion he received after getting his face buried into the dashboards thanks to the Flyers' Randy Jones. That injury, suffered in October of 2007, lingered with the center all summer-long, hindering his development and strength.
“I was 100 percent [recovered] last year,” Bergeron told the Herald. “The only thing was
I was lighter than I’m normally supposed to be, and there was just a matter of
rhythm and timing. I missed the whole year and it’s going to take some time to
get back at it. Having this summer to get stronger and quicker is going to help
me a lot. Last summer I was able to do my normal workouts, but I just didn’t
have the time to build muscle and get my weight back to normal.”
Hampered by another head injury, Bergeron banked eight goals and 31 assists in 64 games last season, a far cry from the 70 points he posted in 77 games in the 2006-07 season — his last full campaign. But with a healthy finish this past season, Bergie has been able to enhance is overall game with uninterrupted offseason workouts.
“Right now I do feel like that, a lot more than I did on this date last year,” Bergeron said. “This time last year I hadn’t played much at all the previous year and a lot of questions were in the air. What happened was always in the back of my mind, but now I know I’m back to 100 percent. It’s good.”
