The Boston Bruins [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/boston-bruins] announced Thursday morning that the team will be retiring Patrice Bergeron's #37 to the rafters of TD Garden. Bergeron, 40, played all 1,294 games of his NHL career with the Bruins, becoming one of the greatest players in not just Bruins history, but all of NHL history. His raw numbers alone are elite, posting 427 goals and 1,040 career points, three trips to the Stanley Cup Final with one win, in 2011. He's the fourth Bruins to record 1,000 points for the franchise. The soon-to-be Hall of Famer also won SIX separate Selke Trophies in his career, the most of any player in league history. No other player has won more than four times. Bergeron won his last two in the final two years of his career. He finished in the top five for the award for the last 15 years of his career, and in the top three for the final 13 seasons. He also won the 2013 King Clancy Trophy, awarded annually to an NHL player who best exemplifies leadership qualities both on and off the ice and has made a noteworthy humanitarian contribution in his community. In 2013, Bergeron's "Patrice's Pals" program brought kids from local hospitals and other organizations to Bruins games. They get to watch the game from a luxury suite and meet with Bergeron after the games. Bergeron ran the program from 2006 until the end of his career. The 2026 Hockey Hall of Fame [https://thehockeynews.com/news/podcast/the-wraparound-who-will-make-the-hockey-hall-of-fame-in-2026] announces their latest class on Monday, and it's widely-expected Bergeron will make it in, perhaps even unanimously. Bergeron, alongside Zdeno Chara, completely revamped what it meant to be a Boston Bruin, changing the team's culture entirely beginning with the 2006-07 season. That year, Chara signed and became captain, while Bergeron became an alternate captain. The pair wore those same letters together for the next 14 seasons together, with the Bruins making the playoffs 11 times out of those 14 years, making the Cup final in 2011, 2013, and 2019. Now, the duo will sit in the rafters of TD Garden next to each other for the rest of time. Chara helped surprise Bergeron when the franchise broke the news to Bergeron: Bergeron then became captain following Chara's departure in 2020, wearing the 'C' for his final three years of his career. The Bruins legend also won two Olympic Gold Medals in his career, in 2010 and 2014 with Team Canada. One of Bergeron's best moments came in the first round of the 2013 playoffs, against the Toronto Maple Leafs [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/toronto-maple-leafs]. With the Bruins trying to come back from down 4-1, the Bruins had cut it to 4-3 in the final minute. With the net empty, the Bruins pushed with everything they had. Up stepped Bergeron, firing home a wrister from the point, through a screen set by Chara. Then, in overtime, the Bruins won it, thanks to Bergeron, with one of Jack Edwards' greatest calls of all time. Later in the 2013 run, as the Bruins progressed to the Stanley Cup final, Bergeron suffered severe injuries, but played through as if nothing happened. After a heart-shattering loss to the Chicago Blackhawks, it was revealed Bergeron played through torn rib cartilage, a fractured rib, a separated shoulder, and a punctured lung. Each injury would keep most people down, let alone all four at once. Not Bergeron. The stats remained ridiculous levels of good for Bergeron throughout his career, even as he got older. He scored 20+ goals for the final 10 years of his career. The emergence of the perfection line alongside Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak remains, arguably, the greatest line in Bruins history. The trio always made something out of nothing, with the most unbelievable passing you'll ever see. There is never going to be another Patrice Bergeron. The level of respect he has across the league, the way he is viewed as one of the classiest, nicest players to ever play in the NHL, speaks volumes. Here's just a taste of Bergeron's best in his career, including his 2011 Stanley Cup Lift: Patrice Bergeron Career Highlights [https://i.ytimg.com/vi/cnJuLRjnJjA/maxresdefault.jpg] Patrice Bergeron Career Highlights Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube. [https://youtu.be/cnJuLRjnJjA?si=KaOIZG-YKvSgTdiD]
