Patrice Bergeron is known as the heart and soul of the Boston Bruins for a number of reasons. One of them is his toughness, and that quality was on full display during his team’s loss to the Chicago Blackhawks in what turned out to be the final game of the Stanley Cup Finals on Monday night.
After the game, Bergeron revealed that he had played Game 6 with a broken rib, torn rib cartilage and a separated shoulder. The rib injuries were suffered during Game 5, when Bergeron had to leave at the beginning of the second period and did not return. However, his trip to the hospital during Game 5 had to do with concerns about his spleen, as rumored. He said the shoulder separation happened during Game 6.
“I think it was more they were worried about my spleen being hurt, that’s why I went to the hospital: check on my spine, muscles and so forth,” Bergeron said, via ESPNBoston.com. “Obviously, I would have liked to stay in there, but I was obviously going through a lot of pain.”
A lot of guys were playing through pain. Andrew Shaw took a puck to the face and bled throughout almost the entire third period on Monday night. Nathan Horton had been battling chronic shoulder separation since the end of the regular season. Jonathan Toews and Marian Hossa were also battling undisclosed injuries.
But it sounds like Bergeron had it the worst, and he still managed to play 17:45 on 24 shifts in Game 6 while registering two hits. It takes tremendous toughness to even skate with a broken rib and separated shoulder, let alone delivering and taking hits.
Game 6 will be remembered for the Bruins blowing a 2-1 lead with less than two minutes remaining, but the Blackhawks were the better team. That doesn’t mean they wanted it more, and Bergeron’s willingness to play through serious injuries was a reminder of that.
