Patrice Bergeron's Return Imminent

Patrice Bergeron met with his doctors this morning and was cleared for contact. He immediately went to practice and participated in his first full-contact practice since he suffered a grade 3 concussion in October. While his exact return date is uncertain, Patrice himself said that he won't play on Thursday in the Boston Bruin's opener against the Montreal Canadiens, it does look like he'll play at some point in the first round.

The Return of Patrice Bergeron

Note: This story combines data I found on yahoo, cbssportsline and a few other sites with my own observations.

Boston Bruins' young star centerman Patrice Bergeron wasn't thinking about hockey in November. He wasn't thinking about the next opponent or the playoffs or what he needed to do to elevate his already impressive game. At age 22, he was wondering whether he'd ever get a chance to play again.

On October 27th against the Philadelphia Flyers, Bergeron's career was forever changed when he was driven face first into the end boards at full speed by Flyers defenseman Randy Jones. The hit left him motionless on the ice for what seemed like an eternity. The medical staff cut away his gear before placing his neck in brace, taping his legs to one one another and moving him to a board to stabilize his body. He was finally moved on to a stretcher and taken to the hospital. It was a terrifying scene as Bergeron showed little to no movement throughout the process. He was ultimately diagnosed with a severe grade 3 concussion and a broken nose. There was good news, however, in that there was no damage to his neck or spine but his career was certainly in question.

Claude Julien was furious with the play, calling it a "dirty hit" and challenging the league to address the situation with the Flyers who, as a team, had been involved in three violent plays in their first 10 games. Ultimately, Julien was most likely disappointed in the suspension handed down by the league. Randy Jones was suspended for two games without pay, which ultimately cost him $5,614.98. For the Flyers, it wasn't much of a loss considering that Jones wasn't even one of their top four defensemen while it was a devastating loss for the Bruins.

Patrice Bergeron was one of the most promising young players in the league. 2005-2006, his second year in the league, was a breakout season for the 20 year old where he scored 31 goals and added 42 assists. 29 of those points were scored on the powerplay. The following year wasn't quite as great, but still a very good season with 70 points and 22 goals. There were high hopes for the 2007-2008 season as Bergeron had 7 points in the first 10 games, but the attention quickly shifted after the incident. The team no longer wondered how many points he' d scored but rather whether he'd ever score another goal again.

On November 8th, an ailing Patrice Bergeron held a press conference to discuss the game, the injury and his future. It was as gutsy a performance by a player that I can remember. Bergeron, still in a neck brace, physically struggled to even rotate his head to face the reporters. The lights, the noise, the commotion all seemed to take a toll on him. The rules were that he would answer questions in English for five minutes and then in French for another five and then he would walk away. It was ultimately a unique press conference where Bergeron called, not for the league, but for the players to change the game. He urged them to show a greater level of respect for one another and cut down on the dangerous hits from behind.

"You have to hold back -- hitting is a part of the game, but not from behind. We have to respect each other a little bit more. I know I'm not the only one who has been saying that this past year. Something needs to be done. We have to think about the consequences when you're on the ice. "

I have a tremendous amount of respect for Bergeron and I'd love to say that his sacrifice was worth it, that his press conference changed the game but I'd be lying. For me, there have been more dangerous hits from behind this year than any I can remember and the league continues to be shy about cracking down on it. I often wonder when we'll see someone get paralyzed on the ice. When it does happen, the league will need to shoulder part of the blame.

It's been about 5 months since the incident and Bergeron has fought through all of the pain and discomfort that comes with a concussion of that magnitude. In fact, at times it prevented him from even being able to watch his teammates as the lights and noise triggered debilitating headaches and dizziness that made it difficult to move around. Brief walks were a challenge and all the exercise his body could handle. Ultimately, he struggled to even leave his home. Over time, he regained some of the little things people generally take for granted. He was able to move around, go outside and eventually go see his teammates in person. It was one of the first steps he'd take.

Recovering from concussions is a difficult thing. It's about testing yourself and your body and being patient throughout the process. For Bergeron, a slow, steady five minute ride on an exercise bike in December was a huge step forward and the biggest "win" he'd had since the injury. Throughout his exercise program the headaches would return forcing Bergeron to scale back his approach. After a period of time, he'd try again and see how far he could go without the headaches and dizziness bringing him back to earth. Then he took a big step in late February when he started skating again. It started slowly, with him skating before and after practice by himself with no gear. Two weeks ago his dedication, patience and persistence allowed him to return to practice with his teammates. He wears a special colored jersey so that his teammates know that he is only practicing in a "non-contact" fashion but being back with the team is exactly what he wanted.

Now, he stands at the edge of an incredibly remarkable milestone. On Wednesday he will have a number of neuro tests done and they will determine whether or not he is ready for contact again. If all goes well, and the tests provide positive results, it certainly seems like Bergeron will be back this season. The Boston Bruins, who are desperately hanging on to a playoff spot in the East, would love to have their star in the lineup but they also won't take any changes with a player so young. For them, it's just great to have him back in the locker room. The likelihood of us seeing him back during the regular season are slim-to-none, but the post-season might be a different matter. Regardless, it's great to hear that his return is now a matter of "when" as opposed to "if." He's just happy to be back in the environment, back with the team and back to focusing on the game we all love.

“It’s a great feeling to be around the guys again, be around the locker room, have a chance to skate with the guys. I waited 4 1/2 months to have a chance to do that,” Bergeron said. “It’s a great sport, and you don’t appreciate it as much; you don’t say thanks enough.

“Now that I’ve been away from it, I get a chance to realize it’s my passion. I’m thankful for every second, every minute that I’m on the ice.”

Chris Pronger, Super-Players And Bob McKenzie

When the NHL would not discipline Chris Pronger for his actions toward Ryan Kesler ... We at Ice Junkies were surprised, Vancouver fans were surprised and Bob McKenzie thought we were all just silly and needed "more evidence!" In his first story - "More evidence needed to suspend Pronger" Mr McKenzie goes on to say "whether it had malicious intent or was just part of Pronger trying to break free, well, the Zapruder film was better quality than this video." I am not sure how far away from the screen Bob was sitting, but on my tv - I saw it clear as day ... Chris Pronger made a "stomping" motion on Ryan Kesler's leg.

That story from Bob McKenzie broke on March 13th at 7:05pm ... fast forward to March 14th, at 8:50am (yes - 13 hours and 45 minutes later) and Bobby is back with his - "Upon Further Review" post on his blog (not where his original story was posted). Now he is saying "the same thing cannot be said after watching Pronger deliver a "stomp" on Kesler that is much clearer on the second generation of video that became available." I watched both videos, in both videos I saw the same thing - the same thing we all saw! Then McKenzie goes on to say "This wasn't nearly as flagrant or obvious or malicious as Chris Simon's stomp on Jarko Ruutu..." - Wait ... so if he was not obvious or malicious it would be ok? This makes no sense - if you purposely step on a mans leg while wearing a razor sharp blade on your foot ... Its Malicious!

Lets take this another direction ... What If Ryan sustained an injury to his leg? What If Prongers skate cut into his skin? How many games would he be suspended then? It is sad to watch the NHL pass down their suspensions based on the outcome of the event rather than on the actual infraction. Forget motivation, forget "the rap-sheet" as Bob McKenzie likes to call Prongers history ... Chris Simon is out for 30 games because he made a "stomping" motion onto the leg of Jarkko Ruutu, the same exact "stomping" motion made by Chris Pronger! This inconsistency in discipline should not be tolerated. Greg Wyshynski did a piece on this issue ... "Revealing the Secrets of Suspensions" ... I personally like how the NHL keeps its Standards, Practices and Politics of Suspensions a SECRET! Check out Mike Heika's piece on that - "Fans Left In The Dark"

It appears that the NHL is going to re-review their review of the Pronger stomp ... Chris has waived his "in person" review and has accepted the "on the phone" review with the league. With Chris being the Super Player that he is ... I am guessing he will be handed a hot steaming bowl of "no more than a 5 game suspension!"

In case you have not seen it and would like to see "The Original" - Check out the 19 second mark ... and Bob McKenzie needed MORE evidence? You can also read Clint's take on the whole matter by scrolling down 4 posts to his "Pronger Stomp" post - there you'll find a nice collection of video's to compare.

The Depletion of the Pittsburgh Penguins

Pittsburgh faces a desperate team tonight in Buffalo as the Sabres are trying to claw their way into a playoff spot in these last few weeks. Their chances are looking pretty good today as it appears that Sidney Crosby, Maxime Talbot and Marian Hossa will all watch the game from the press box. They may also be joined by Petr Sykora who is suffering from back spasms. That's a tremendous amount of firepower watching the game for the Penguins so unless Marc-Andre Fleury can work his magic again it appears that tonight might be a rough one. You never know with this team as they've shown tremendous heart all year long, battled through adversity and have had the right players step up at the right time. As usual, Evgeni Malkin and Fleury will ultimately decide the fact of the team. If they only have good nights, Pittsburgh will most likely be in trouble.

Marian Hossa is practicing and may attempt to play his first full game in a Penguins uniform this weekend when Pittsburgh faces the Philadelphia Flyers, their arch-rival, on Sunday.

Update: I was absolutely, flat out wrong. First off, Ty Conklin started and was good through two periods and terrible in the third. However, it didn't seem to matter as I completely over-estimated the Buffalo Sabres. They were nothing short of a mess against the Penguins. They never stopped playing, which I appreciate, and were able to score three goals in the third but it wasn't nearly enough as the Penguins stomped all over them on their way to a 7-3 victory. Maxim Afinogenov, however, played a remarkable game. He ended up with an assist, 3 shots on goal and a +1 rating which is impressive considering the score. It appears that Buffalo is on their way to missing the playoffs unless a drastic turnaround happens in the next few days.

Modo No Mo and Other Stuff

Peter the Great

Forsberg has reportedly informed Modo, his former team in the Elite leagues in Sweden, that he will not be playing with them this season instead choosing to give his agent permission to begin discussions with NHL teams about a return. I would expect that he'll be signed in the next week to two weeks and I'm guessing Philly, Detroit and Calgary are the front runners.

Kovie's Knee

Reports out of Atlanta say that the Kovalchuk will miss at least two games but they don't expect him to miss a substantial amount of games due to a knee injury caused by a collision with Jarko Ruutu.

Dion Phaneuf

Arguably the most coveted upcoming restricted free agent, Dion has been busy negotiating with the Flames for a contract extension. An extension that would see him off the market and therefore safe from an offer sheet similar to those that were offered unsuccessfully to Vanek and, unfortuntately for Anaheim, successfully to Dustin Penner in the off-season. Expect the deal to be announced today and be in the neighborhood of $6 million a year for 5 years.

The Horse Wasn't Quite Dead

I wanted to share this video as a follow-up to a post I made late last month about public perception of the Bertuzzi event. I discussed how I felt that Bertuzzi's punishment was deserved but also how I felt that the public had quickly disowned him based on the result of the act and not the act itself. The video below is a perfect example of how public perception is based on the outcome of a cheap shot and not the intent or danger of the act itself.



Bill mentioned that Bertuzzi's shot ended a player's career and thus needs to be judged accordingly. My only issue with that is that we punish and judge much like our broken law system. If someone drinks a fifth of Jack, jumps behind the wheel of a car and crashes into a family of four they can have two very different outcomes in terms of punishment. If anyone dies, then chances are they're going to prison. However, if they only shatter a few pelvises and possibly make it difficult for them to walk for the rest of their life then their punishment is much less severe. My question is, what role did they play in the outcome of that crash? If no one died, they got lucky and get a lighter punishment which makes no sense to me. By no fault of their own did someone NOT die. This applies directly to the NHL.

The video I included above shows exactly what I'm talking about. If I remember correctly, Bure was fined for this and not suspended. In today's NHL, he would definitely be suspended. He would most likely be suspended for both the elbow and the very high slash he delivers early in the video but that's not the point. The point is that this had a very serious impact on Shane Churla's career costing him a lot of games that season. Frankly, he was never quite the same for the Stars afterwards. However, this event was never on the TV, never on the radio and no one cared simply because Bure got lucky that Churla didn't break his neck or suffer a career ending injury. There are a million of these instances where players got lucky not to cause the same kind of injury that Bertuzzi did but that one moment sticks out in everyone's head and I can't help but comment on the fact that he ends up being the whipping boy. The fact of the matter is that Bure continued to be a celebrated player, and still is today, despite an action that was, frankly, more dangerous and nastier than Bertuzzi's punch. Of course, sports are all about judging for yourself.

Oh, and I promise that this will be my last post on the topic. I simply couldn't help but share the video. The horse is officially glue.

Drew Remenda may return to the Sharks!

This is GREAT news. Drew use to be an analyst for the Sharks on TV and Radio back when I worked for the team. In 2005/06 he left the Sharks for the Canadian Network TV ... the rumor of Drew coming back to the Sharks is GREAT news to me. I enjoyed his wit, his sarcasm and his "on air" personality (along with his off air personality also) - He is just an all around good guy.

If this rumor is true ... Shark Fans will be very happy to hear the familiar voice again analyzing plays, teams, coaches and the like.

I'll throw my 2 cents worth of opinion into the Bertuzzi move ... Todd Bertuzzi's actions have ended an NHL players career. Some people think he did it with malice, others think that it was an unfortunate turn of events. If you don't know what Bertuzzi did - in March of 2004 Todd Bertuzzi played for the Canucks and they were playing the Colorado Avalanche in Denver. Steve Moore's back was to Todd because Todd was trying to instigate Steve into fighting with him (retaliation to a hit Steve Moore gave Naslund a month earlier) ... Steve would not even acknowledge Todd's attempt to fight with him (since Colorado was KILLING Vancouver 9 - 2) so Todd took a cheap shot, it happens, cheap shots are thrown just about EVERY game. Todd Bertuzzi took a very cheap shot from behind and hit Steve Moore in the temple which resulted in Steve Moore collapsing onto the ice with Bertuzzi on top of him. Bertuzzi fell onto Moore (who's head hit the ice) and gave him "concussion like" symptoms. Steve Moore has not played a game since, his career was ended because of the injuries he sustained from that incident.

Now - I will go back to what Clint said. Intent has to be considered when punishing players. There is NO excuse for a player to take a swing at another player with his stick - the intent of that action is to harm or injure the player. The hits and checks and fist fights are all part of hockey ... its a physical sport and when these men take the ice, its not about friendships, or who likes who ... its about their team winning! When someone gets called for boarding, cross checking, hooking, fighting, tripping, or any other penalty in hockey ... most of the time they are not victims. They are doing what they have to do to get the upper hand. With the new rules and changes coming to the NHL - we'll see how the form and shape the sport in the future.

Bertuzzi as a Duck will be interesting to watch. Especially since Anaheim and San Jose have such a rivalry ... I hope Todd is able to keep his retaliations fair.

Preparing for the 2007/2008 NHL Season!

Its to early to start a countdown - that would just depress us! However - Free Agency starts in 4 days ... July 1!!! Are YOU ready?