BOSTON — Wednesday was breakup day for the Bruins, meaning the myriad injuries the Black and Gold suffered through the playoff run finally came to light.
None of the afflictions was more eye-opening than the admission from center Patrice Bergeron, who revealed he missed Game 4 of the first round against the Toronto Maple Leafs with what he described as “concussion-like symptoms.”
Bergeron, who took some big hits in Game 3 of that series, said he wasn’t feeling well after the third game. He also was battling a cold, and he couldn’t determine whether he was under the weather simply because of the cold or another concussion. The Bruins’ medical staff decided to take the cautious route and sit him down for Game 4.
“I didn’t feel good the next day,” Bergeron said Wednesday. “I felt fine after that, so they’re like, ‘you know what, let’s take, there’s a lot of things going on.’ I had a cold, so I didn’t know where the symptoms were coming from. I was planning on playing, but the doctors, because of my history, they were like, ‘let’s take that game because we don’t feel, we want to make sure it’s nothing,’ and I felt fine. Over the next two days, I had no symptoms, so I was good.”
What was somewhat surprising, given Bergeron’s concussion history, is he didn’t go through the protocol.
“I didn’t go through the protocol because it was not a concussion,” the veteran forward explained. “It was more I didn’t feel good and the doctors didn’t want to take that chance. I wasn’t sure if it was from the cold or where it was coming from. I took a few hits that game.”
Bergeron has suffered at least four concussions in his career, including a serious grade-III concussion and broken nose after taking a hit from behind during the 2007 season. He suffered that concussion on Oct. 27 and didn’t play the rest of the season.
