After watching Bergeron help Boston to a 4-1 win last Wednesday with a goal and two assists, Hockey Canada general manager Steve Yzerman apparently left the TD Garden considering Bergeron as a candidate to play for Canada in the Winter Olympics in Vancouver in February.
TSN and NBC analyst Pierre McGuire told The Team 990 in Montreal last week — and a Hockey Canada scout confirmed to NESN.com this weekend — that Yzerman was scouting the Bruins-Lightning game to focus on the play of Lightning forwards Steven Stamkos and Martin St. Louis. But after both Stamkos and St. Louis went pointless and each finished a minus-3 for the game, Yzerman’s focus became Bergeron, who has clearly found his two-way game again.
After returning from a concussion that kept him out for most of the 2007-08 season, Bergeron returned last season to register eight goals and 31 assists. Toward the end of the season, Bergeron became one of the Bruins’ best defensive forwards. This season he has found the offensive side of his game, already equaling his goal total from last season and setting up 15 goals for 23 points in 29 games.
When recently notified that Yzerman is now considering him for the Olympic squad, Bergeron did his best to shrug it off, saying his focus remains on the Bruins. But Bergeron couldn’t hide his excitement completely.
"[It] means a lot coming from him," Bergeron said of Yzerman. "I grew up watching him and idolizing him and he was such a force on the ice.
"The Olympics is the biggest event in all of sports," the 24-year-old center continued. "It is something that would be a true honor, but I've got to worry about the Bruins and helping them and my team, so I can’t really focus on that."
According to the Hockey Canada scout, Bergeron is the only Canadian possibility from the Bruins at this time. Milan Lucic took part in the Hockey Canada Olympic camp this past summer, but his injuries have apparently pushed him out of consideration. The same can be said for the broken foot that kept Marc Savard out of the lineup for a month. He wasn’t invited to the camp, but some believed he could work his way onto the roster.
