In his 15th NHL season, Boston Bruins center Patrice Bergeron is approaching career-highs in goals and points with just nine regular-season games remaining. It became clear Wednesday that his peers are taking notice.
The NHL Players’ Association released their annual Player Poll, surveying 500-plus NHL players on over 20 hockey-related topics. The Bruins assistant captain showed up in the poll on a few occasions, in categories that Bruins fans will definitely agree with.
Bergeron finished third overall in the “Most difficult player to play against” category, receiving 9.2 percent of the 401 total votes. Edmonton Oilers center Conor McDavid led the race at 30.9 percent, followed by the Pittsburgh Penguins’ Sidney Crosby (16 percent), both of whom present some nice company for Bergeron.
That same trio appeared in the “player you would most like to start a franchise with” section, with 22-year-old McDavid coming in first at 60 percent. Crosby and the Toronto Maple Leafs’ Auston Matthews rounded out the top three at 18.5 percent and 4.3 percent, respectively, followed by Bergeron at 1.7 percent. Bergeron and Crosby being included among a slew of younger players says a lot about how the league views the two veterans.
In more poll-related news, Brad Marchand was voted as the league’s best and worst trash-talker and responded in the most Marchand-way possible.
Check out the NHLPA’s Player Poll in its entirety below:
The players have spoken and the #NHLPAPlayerPoll is back! Often imitated but never duplicated, we surveyed 500+ NHL players on 20+ hockey-related questions covering skills, arenas, teams and a few other fun topics in between.
The poll is LIVE âž¡ https://t.co/NM2KqFuMr2 pic.twitter.com/GERt7CVGly
— NHLPA (@NHLPA) March 20, 2019
