Bergeron just looking forward

He won't dwell on fateful day

EDMONTON, Alberta - A year ago yesterday, Bruins center Patrice Bergeron was nearly killed when a vicious check by Flyers defenseman Randy Jones banged his head hard against the rear boards at TD Banknorth Garden and left the highly popular Quebec kid with a Grade 3 concussion.

Bergeron awoke here yesterday fully aware of the anniversary, but opted not to dwell on it.

"Just happy to be here, and looking forward to playing," he said before the Bruins' 1-0 victory over the Oilers that started this three-city road trip.

Over the weekend, hits to the head again became a very controversial topic when Hurricanes rookie Brandon Sutter was clobbered by Islanders forward Doug Weight, long one of the game's gentlemen. Sutter, taken to a hospital, suffered a concussion. After spending the night, he took a train home to North Carolina, following medical advice not to take a flight so soon after getting dinged.

Yet another young star felled by a hit to the head, infuriating Carolina GM Jim Rutherford.

"The league should at least stop saying it's concerned with hits to the head, because it's not," Rutherford told Bob McKenzie, a TSN columnist and broadcaster. "I've had four players - Erik Cole, Trevor Letowski, Matt Cullen, and now Brandon Sutter - get badly injured on hits to the head and only one of the guys who hit them was suspended. So don't tell me the league is concerned about hits to the head, because it's not."

Bergeron, told of Rutherford's remarks, said he believes the league has to be diligent about how it polices the game, but substantive change must come from the players themselves.

"It's up to the players to realize what's going on here," said the 23-year-old pivot. "The guys who do this have to put themselves in the other guy's skates, or shoes. No one wants to miss time because of these hits. There's no [room] for it in the game.

"Now, I didn't see the hit [Weight on Sutter], so I can't comment on it directly. But it's up to us as players to realize this stuff is wrong."

Marco a marksman
Marco Sturm led the shooting brigade for Boston with six strikes on Dwayne Roloson. Fellow forwards Michael Ryder, Phil Kessel, and Marc Savard all had four shots apiece . . . Milan Lucic, who had a hat trick Saturday, did not land one shot on net . . . Boston blue liner Aaron Ward led the hit parade, credited with five hits while also leading the way with four blocked shots . . . Rookie Blake Wheeler logged 11:12 in ice time and landed three shots on net.

It's all clear to him
Lucic wore his new contact lenses for the second game in a row. "Like seeing everything in hi-def," noted Lucic. Lucic said he wore contacts for a while during his days with the Vancouver Giants (WHL), but opted to stop when one of them came out during a fight. Lucic, who had a few epic battles as a freshman Bruin last season, has yet to put up his dukes in 2008-09. "I don't know why that is," he said. "No one's really asked me [to fight], and I haven't asked anyone. Maybe it will come soon." . . . Lucic is among the very few Bruins to have his own hotel room on road trips. Usually it takes years for veterans to attain "single-room" status, but Lucic made the leap during the club's first road trip in 2007-08. Turns out, the scorer is also a snorer. "Chuckie was my first roommate," recalled Lucic, referring to winger Chuck Kobasew. "We were in Dallas, and he complained that I was snoring all night. He couldn't take it, got no sleep. [Vladimir] Sobotka was my roomie the second night, but he couldn't sleep, too. That kiboshed it right there. Two days in the league, and I had my own room." The 20-year-old winger said he has tried a number of remedies, including the adhesive strips that can be placed over the bridge of the nose. Nothing worked. "With this nose, you get pretty loud," he said. "I fractured it twice last year, which probably has something to do with it, too."

Kevin Paul Dupont can be reached at dupont@globe.com.