Patrice Bergeron has earned the respect of all members of the hockey community, including its tallest member.
Bergeron was honored Saturday afternoon for playing in his 1,000th career game, making him the fifth Boston Bruins player to reach the milestone. From the pregame ceremony, to the epic tribute videos to scoring the overtime winner against the Los Angeles Kings, Saturday was all about Bergeron.
After the game, fellow Bruin Zdeno Chara took to Instagram to honor his longtime teammate.
“What a milestone!
Congratulations to my dear friend Patrice for 1000th games played .
Many more to come ….
#1000 #teammates #season14 #thankyou”
https://www.instagram.com/p/Btr3K_FhFgr/
A year from now, there’s a good chance these roles will be reversed.
Chara, 41, has played in 1,549 games in his NHL career, but only 929 for the Bruins. So, if the ageless defenseman returns for the 2019-20 season, he likely will become the sixth player to appear in 1,000 games in a Bruins uniform.