Waiting for a clearing pass
Optimistic Bergeron not ready to play - yet
MONTREAL - Lest anyone get too carried away, yes, Patrice Bergeron is feeling much better, in his head and heart, but he is not ready to play, and he has yet to be told by his many consulting physicians when he will be able to return to the Bruins' lineup.
In fact, yesterday afternoon Bergeron said he isn't certain how his final "return to play" ticket will be punched. Dr. Bert Zarins, the club's longtime consulting physician/orthopedist, will take part in that call, as will Dr. Robert Cantu, the concussion expert who is chief of neurosurgery services at Emerson Hospital in Concord, Mass.
The doctors, Bergeron figures, will test him, poke him, and most importantly ask him how his head feels. If all the data and all the gut feelings - those of the patient and the doctors - come together as hoped, the 22-year-old Bergeron will be ready to pull on that No. 37 Black-and-Gold sweater.
Sometime. Maybe soon. But not now.
"I guess they'll give me some tests," said Bergeron, after undergoing a lengthy workout yesterday at Bell Centre, prior to his teammates taking on the Canadiens in Game 1 of their best-of-seven playoff series. "I'm not sure of everything involved, but a lot of it's me . . . I have to be sure."
Bergeron is 5 1/2 months removed from taking a hit that could have killed him, one that left him with a Grade 3 concussion that reduced him to living the life of a recluse from the end of October until early January. His mother came from Quebec City, and she drove him where he needed to go (hospital appointments, drugstore, etc.), and it was literally a big step in his recovery in December when he began to go for routine daily walks. It was some three months before Bergeron got behind the wheel of a car.
To see him now, after being cleared Monday to participate in contact drills, is very encouraging to everyone in the Boston camp. Not only does he look good, he feels good, albeit a little thin (he has roughly 8 more pounds to add). He raced around the ice here for a one-hour workout, mainly under the tutelage of assistant coach Doug Houda, and he did it with some obvious, if not infectious, zip and grit.
At exactly 12:12 p.m., Bergeron and Houda came together on the sidewall with a bang, one that reverberated through the near-empty arena that promised later in the day to have some 21,000 screaming Habs fans ready to tear off the roof with their frenzied yelling. The Bergeron-Houda collision did not seem to impact either, and Bergeron was the aggressor.
"Houds doesn't have any pads, so most of that was just me hitting the boards," said Bergeron, who added with a sly smile, "and all he does is cross-check me across the back anyway." Another surefire sign of nearing a return to play: getting fed up with the coach/drill sergeant.
Following the workout, Bergeron, who spent much of the practice shooting on goalie Manny Fernandez, was surrounded by the media at his stall in the dressing room. Once more, and with admirable patience and honesty, he answered any and all questions related to the devastating hit, delivered by Flyers defenseman Randy Jones, and explained again how he holds no malice toward Jones. What he wants most, beyond getting back to playing for a living, is for players at all levels to use caution when faced with the opportunity to deliver dangerous checks.
According to Bergeron, he has not spoken to Jones, but he did say Jones called him and left him a message only days after the incident.
"But at the time," said Bergeron, "I wasn't able to talk on the phone, not even with close friends and family."
Five months later, Bergeron has yet to return the call.
For the 73d time this season, the Bruins went into a game without their talented 1A pivot in place. Officially, they will only say he is day to day, and he's saying the same.
"There is nothing set in stone that I am playing in Game 2 [tomorrow night], or play in this series."
The wait has been especially tough for Bergeron. For weeks, he could barely think of playing the game again, never mind attempt the first steps back in a reconditioning program. When his early workouts plateaued, and his frustration began to mount, he opted, somewhat against his will, for a week in the Caribbean, where his afternoons were measured in counting grains of sand and beats of a poolside drum, rather than reps in the weight room.
As spring approached, he finally moved his workouts to the ice, and some three weeks later, his headaches finally at bay, he was cleared for contact. He has now had four days of workouts, with varying degrees of hits and checks included, and he is happy to say he has experienced no headaches, no wooziness, no nausea. He is almost there, but not quite.
Amid the Bergeron workouts, and the ratcheting up of both the contact and accompanying enthusiasm, the Bruins made the playoffs for the first time in four years. Now Bergeron is sure he will play again, but whether it's this week, or this spring, or not until September's training camp, no one can say with total confidence, or authority.
How hard it must be, after all the waiting, to be fully immersed in the team and postseason culture, especially with a playoff series starting here, in the cradle of Canadian hockey culture.
"I don't think it makes it harder," said Bergeron, ready to shower and slip into street clothes for another night of watching in the press box. "It's much more encouraging, because I know I am going to be back. But still, I have to stay smart, and I have to stay honest with myself, take it day by day. So, I guess that's hard, but I have to do it."
