Patrice Bergeron has battled through some tough injuries throughout his career, and it seems 2019 is no different.
The Boston Bruins center revealed he was dealing with a groin issue he suffered during Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Final against the Carolina Hurricanes. Bergeron elected to negate surgery and treated the injury with rest and rehab and was optimistic about starting the regular season on time.
General manager Don Sweeney echoed the optimism during his press conference Wednesday.
“It’s lingered. He had a procedure a while back that would likely have alleviated it but it’s a mileage issue as well,” he said via a team-provided transcript. “We have to manage that effectively and communicate effectively as to where he’s at and how he physically feels. We don’t anticipate it. You have to be realistic that it’s still there. He’s working through it. We’re doing it in a smart manner and obviously he wouldn’t be out on the ice today if we didn’t feel he was heading in the right direction. It’ll be a workload issue, how we do those things through camp so he gets the proper time to make sure he’s where he needs to be. I don’t think we’re overly concerned about it at this point but it’s a bit of a thing that’s lingered.”
Bergeron will be entering his 16th season in the NHL and just turned 34 years old in July, so he certainly has a lot of miles on him. But if Bruins fans know one thing about the top-line center, it’s that he’s not afraid to put his body on the line for his team.
Boston opens its season on the road against the Dallas Stars on Oct. 3.
