An unbelievable start to this season for the Boston Bruins has pushed any Patrice Bergeron retirement talk far into the background.
The 19-year pro hasn’t had to answer many questions about his future since the end of training camp, but that trend stopped after Bergeron provided the decisive goal in Boston’s 3-1 win over the New Jersey Devils on Wednesday night.
Bergeron was asked why it’s even a possibility he’s retiring given the strong season he’s currently experiencing and the veteran center, as he always does, didn’t give any indication on if this could be his final season.
“I don’t know. It’s a good question,” Bergeron said with a smile, per team-provided video. “At some point, you do this for such a long time, you have to take a step back and that’s what I did this past summer. Now I’m just focusing on this year and trying to help my team as much as possible.”
So how long could Bergeron envision himself playing? He stayed tight-lipped on that answer, too.
“I don’t know,” Bergeron said. “I’m taking it a day at a time. I’m not focused on that right now. As I said, this is a special group and you want to enjoy the moment. That’s something I say to the guys a lot: As you get older, you want to soak everything in and be in the moment. That’s the one thing I’m trying to teach the young guys, to not wait too long for that.”
The 37-year-old is having a well-balanced season as he buoys Boston’s top line with 14 goals and 15 assists for 29 points in 35 games.
While chatter about Bergeron potentially walking away has been quiet for the most part since the pucks have dropped, it will inevitably grow louder by the end of the season and through the playoffs.
And at that time when there are more questions hurled at him about retiring, he will probably handle it the same way he’s doing now.
