Patrice Bergeron and the Boston Bruins have created admirers behind enemy lines.
NHL legend Eric Lindros explained this week in the latest “NHL @TheRink podcast” what he believes makes the Bruins center a great player and why the team has excelled not only in 2019-20 but also in other recent campaigns. Despite living firmly in in Toronto Maple Leafs country in Ontario, Canada, Lindros has come to enjoy watching Bergeron control the puck at an elite level to his team’s benefit.
“He’s so good, he really is,” Lindros said. “Yeah, he’s got (David) Pastrnak to finish it, and (Brad) Marchand is having an incredible time, an incredible year. (Marchand is) really a fantastic player in his own right, but to watch Bergeron do all the little stuff that he does, starting shifts with possession with face-off wins, he just really never gives up the puck. If you’re going to get it off Bergeron, something really has to happen. He’s not one to just give a freebie. He’s a fantastic guy to watch.”
The Bruins’ relentlessness particularly has impressed Lindros, and he believes their strong mindset sets them apart from other teams.
“I think they wear people out,” Lindros said. “I think that pack mentality that they have wears teams out. I still think that there is a bit of fear that people have when the opposition isn’t afraid to make big hits, and Boston will go out of their way to do it and then back up the player that does.”
Lindros locked horns with the Bruins in the 1990s when he starred with the Philadelphia Flyers and subsequently did so while representing the New York Rangers, Maple Leafs and Dallas Stars.
The Hockey Hall of Fame enshrined him into its ranks in 2016, and the ensuing years have dimmed his competitive flame given him the chance to appreciate the Bruins for what they are: the NHL’s best team at the time the season paused due to the coronavirus outbreak.
