What Pre-Deadline Chats With Bruins Made Patrice Bergeron Realize

Patrice Bergeron is enjoying more time with his family in his life after the NHL, but the former Boston Bruins captain does miss one aspect of the game.

Bergeron spoke with The Athletic’s Fluto Shinzawa and opened up in an interview published Wednesday about his life in retirement.

The 38-year-old also revealed details of his pre-trade deadline conversations with Linus Ullmark and Jake DeBrusk. The talk with DeBrusk helped put things into perspective for the forward for the final stretch of the season.

“With JD, it was more like to take a step back and realize, ‘You have the experience. You’ve been there before. You’ve handled it before.'” Bergeron told Shinzawa. “Sometimes when you’re too close to the target, you lose the big picture a little bit. It was just for me to give him an outside perspective and make him realize how special it is to be playing in this league, the talent that he has. Just go out there, take a breath, really look around and realize how cool this is. You’re playing for the Boston Bruins. Sometimes when you’re caught up and things are not going your way, you’re putting so much pressure on yourself and your expectations are so high. It sounds crazy, but it’s how it is. You lose the big picture. You lose the gratitude a little bit. It’s just a way of taking a breath and just resetting a little bit.”

Ullmark and DeBrusk admitted they were able to play more relaxed after they weren’t dealt before the trade deadline. For Bergeron, the conversations made him realize how much he misses being in the company of his teammates.

“That’s definitely the No. 1 thing,” Bergeron told Shinzawa. “I said that from Day 1 I knew that was going to be the hardest thing and the No. 1 thing I was going to miss. I was not wrong. I was told by former teammates that did retire before me. I called a few guys before just to prepare and see where I was at. The camaraderie is really the one thing that is so special about sports and about hockey. Those are guys you see every day, you travel with, you go to dinner with, you battle on the ice, you sacrifice for. They definitely mean a lot. There’s a special bond that’s created because of that. To be removed from that is definitely something I miss. That being said, the special relationships and bonds I’ve created with some of those guys are continuing. I’m able to keep it. I’m still able to reach out with texts. Obviously I don’t have the day to day as much. But I’m going out to dinner with (Brad Marchand). We find ways to hang out in a different way, a different setting now.”

The 2011 Stanley Cup champion admitted he still feels the aches and pains from his 19-season Bruins career, so fans shouldn’t expect a surprise return from Bergeron.