According to TSN on Thursday, the Boston Bruins have named two-time Canadian Olympic gold medalist Patrice Bergeron of L’Ancienne-Lorette, Quebec their new captain. Boston was in need of a change because veteran defenseman Zdeno Chara signed a one-year contract with the Washington Capitals on December 30.
Bergeron has been with the Bruins for his entire career, starting in the 2003-04 season. Over 16 seasons, he has played 1089 regular season games, and has 352 goals, 517 assists, and 869 points. Known as one of the best defensive forwards in National Hockey League history, Bergeron has won four Selke Trophies (tied with former Montreal Canadiens captain Bob Gainey of Peterborough, Ontario for the most ever). He is a +201 in his career, and has the NHL record for most faceoffs won in a NHL career with 12,089. Fellow Canadian Olympic gold medalist Sidney Crosby of Halifax, Nova Scotia is second on the list with 11,144 faceoffs won. Bergeron and Crosby won the gold medal together at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver and the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi.
Bergeron becomes the 20th Bruins captain in franchise history. The last Canadian captain for the Bruins was another Canadian Olympic gold medalist, Joe Thornton of St. Thomas, Ontario, in 2005. Thornton won his gold medal at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver.
