A first-ballot Hall of Famer, Boston Bruins forward Patrice Bergeron announced his retirement from the NHL.

Patrice Bergeron announced his retirement from the NHL on Tuesday in a touching essay released by the Boston Bruins.

There is no question that the forward is a first-ballot Hall of Famer. In addition to his impressive 1094 points in 1294 NHL games, The Stanley Cup winner from 2011 also has two Olympic championships, and has won the Frank J. Selke Trophy (handed out to the best defensive forward) seven times, to a point that there is a sentimental push to have the trophy named after him.

But what the Leafs will always remember about Bergeron is the several times he broke their hearts.

It was 4-1: The 2013 playoffs collapse

In Toronto's first playoff series in nine years, the club jumped out to a 4-1 lead with just 14:31 to go in the third period of a deciding Game 7. The Bruins orchestrated a comeback with a pair of quick goals. Bergeron helped setup the goal that cut Toronto's lead to 4-3 with 1:22 to go. He then scored the tying goal inside of the final minute of regulation before scoring the dramatic overtime winner.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ml96jJ534s[/embed]

The Maple Leafs were actually down 3-1 in the best-of-seven series and were underdogs from the get-go. But were able to force a Game 7. That effort was quickly forgotten thanks to Bergeron's Game 7 performance. It was the first time in NHL history that a team had a three-goal lead in the third period of a Game 7 only to go on and lose the match.

Three-point Performance in Game 7 of 2018

Five years after falling to the Bruins, the Leafs would meet them again. Once again, a Game 7 was necessary and Boston's captain went to work.

Bergeron scored a late-first-period goal that broke a 2-2 tie against the Leafs. With Toronto up 4-3 after two periods, Bergeron set up four of Boston's four goals in the third period to put Toronto away for good.

It was a new chapter of pain for the Leafs. Unlike five years ago, this defeat came agains Toronto core players like Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander and Morgan Rielly.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9QmBtuUJcE[/embed]

2019: Playoff Heartbreak Once Again

Unlike the previous two series between the Maple Leafs and Bruins, Toronto actually had a chance to clinch at home for the very first time. Up 3-2 in the series, fans packed into Scotiabank Arena early for a Sunday afternoon game. The crowd was so pumped that they let out a loud cheer for the horn that sounded at the end of the warmup. 

After Rielly opened the scoring in the first period. Bergeron set up Brad Marchand for a power-play goal that tied the game 1-1. 

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=saXBXBKkSKw[/embed]

The performance from Game 6 forces a Game 7 and the Bruins went on to deliver more disappointment for the Leafs.

2022-23 and regular season playoff seeding

The Bruins were largely dismissed before the start of the 2022-23 season as many felt Boston’s reign of terror on the Atlantic Division was over. This was reinforced when Bergeron took his time in deciding if he was going to return for another season. He ultimately decided to come back, putting pen to paper on a one-year deal on Aug. 8. Bergeron and Boston went on to take the league by storm with an NHL-record 65 wins and 135 points. That frustrated the Leafs who had a pretty good season of their own. But stuck in a division where they couldn’t finish higher than second place, Toronto was chasing a ghost in their attempt to move up in the standings. This occured in other years as well where a divisional system seemed to punish the Leafs solely based on how good Boston (and the Tampa Bay Lightning) were. This went on in many years prior where Toronto was just locked into certain opponents with the Bruins staring them in the face.

Boston will continue to be a good team, but without Bergeron, the mountain may be less steep.

Related

Why Ilya Samsonov’s Arbitration Award is a Loss for the Maple Leafs

Maple Leafs' Ilya Samsonov Awarded $3.55 Million in Salary Arbitration

Post Malone Wears Tie Domi Maple Leafs Jersey at Toronto Show