The greatest defensive forward of the modern era.
We know that we are not the only ones to bestow Patrice Bergeron with that statement, and we will take it one step further as we will anoint Bergeron as one of the top five Bruins ever.
A Bruin for the entirety of his career, Bergeron was an instant leader, winning six Frank J. Selke Awards as the game's best defensive forward, a record, and was also a record finalist 12 times. Bergeron was also a King Clancy winner and the 2020/21 recipient of the Mark Messier Leadership Award. Not all defensive forwards were known for their scoring accumen, but Bergeron is, having scored 1,040 Points, and in 2011, it was Bergeron who scored the Game 7 winner against Vancouver to win the Bruins the Cup.
Bergeron was so good that he only had one season with a negative Plus/Minus and was the league-leader in 2011/12. He only finished in the top five in Hart voting once (fifth in 2013/14), but his value to Boston on every shift could not be quantified, and the Bruins had a gem for his duration.
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