Patrice Bergeron Gives Scouting Report On New Teammate Hampus Lindholm
BOSTON (CBS) -- When it comes to NHL knowledge and experience, you'd be hard-pressed to find somebody better equipped in both than Bruins captain Patrice Bergeron.
With 18 seasons in the league, Bergeron has pretty much seen anybody and everybody who's spent time in the NHL. So even though he has limited experience playing against his new teammate, Hampus Lindholm, he still made for a good option to break down the strengths of the defenseman.
Here's how Bergeron described Lindholm's game this week:
"[He] obviously solidifies our back end backhand and is a player who has been around for -- he's still young but he's been around for a while. He's got a lot of experience and also plays the game well. He's a really smart overall defenseman and seems like a great guy, a great fit so far. I met him [Tuesday] and he was also with us obviously [Wednesday] and seems like he brings a lot of energy, seems to be upbeat and a great player as well. So glad to have him.
"His skating -- I think he closes really fast on guys defensively. He's really, he doesn't work for no reason, meaning that he's always in good position. And I think he's good on the transition. From what I remember playing -- you know, it's not like I've played a lot against him. You see Anaheim twice a year. But from what I remember, playing against him was -- you couldn't really sustain pressure in their zone because he was always finding a way to kind of poke the puck out or break out or go back on the offense by making a smart play. And that's frustrating when you're playing against a guy like that.
"To me, it's the reads. Like if you're able to have a good stick but also anticipate where the play is gonna go, where the puck's gonna go, I think it's extremely hard to play against. And it's frustrating too, because he seems to be always there. And I see a lot of that in Hampus where he's smart, skates well, he's got a good stick. He's big, you know, he's tall, and he's got a long stick. So it's it's one of those guys that is hard to play against."
Though Bergeron won't be on the ice on Thursday night as he has to miss a fourth game stemming from an elbow infection, Lindholm will be making his Bruins debut at TD Garden against the Lightning.