Stop The Presses: Patrice Bergeron Has Gotten Tattooed
By Michael Hurley, CBS Boston
BOSTON (CBS) -- For the past 14 years, ever since he was but a wee young boy from Quebec City, Patrice Bergeron has been one of Boston's favorite sons. For so long, the clean-cut, affable Bergeron has been described by teammates, coaches and executives as "a guy you would want your daughter to marry."
That's nice and all, but things have now changed. Permanently. Now, if you want to bring Patrice Bergeron home to meet Mom and Dad, you're going to have to make sure that the Bruins forward is wearing some long sleeves.
That's right. Patrice Bergeron is all tatted up.
The Twitter and Instagram accounts for Boston Barber & Tattoo Co. in the North End tweeted out pictures on Friday of Bergeron getting work done on his left arm, down to the elbow.
Obviously (I hope), the hue and cry in the introduction to this post was meant in jest, meant to tap in to the hysteria that might have once accompanied the news of a Nice Young Man™ getting inked up. (I wanted to make the headline "Pure No More: Patrice Bergeron Poisons Body With Ink Of The Devil" but felt that perhaps the sarcasm wouldn't be immediately recognized by all consumers.)
Still, Patrice Bergeron has a half-sleeve tattoo. This feels like significant offseason Bruins news.
This is for sure the most drastic change Bergeron has made to his appearance since his bleach-blonde experiment with the Providence Bruins in 2005:
(While it's unclear what Bergeron got tattooed on his arm, we can probably assume it's an image of a forward backchecking and/or blocking shots on a penalty kill. Even while making such a sweeping life change, it's important to remain on brand.)
As it turns out, it's not Bergeron's first tattoo. He's had something on the left arm for some time, as you can see if you search on the Googles. He talked about it in 2013, saying that the tattoo said "master of your destiny" in French, which is boring and lame. Now he's definitely got something with a little more edge, and he's clearly taken a bigger commitment to the cause with his latest additions. While he has a long way to go before he catches up to linemates past (Tyler Seguin) and present (David Pastrnak), Bergeron has clearly come a long, long, long, LONG way from this:
We should have known this was coming when Bergeron sported a Peaky Blinders-esque pocket watch to the NHL Awards this summer:
We don't know for sure what the change in look means for the 33-year-old. But it would be wise for everyone in the NHL to be on high alert. There's a new Patrice Bergeron in town. You never know what he might do next.
You can email Michael Hurley or find him on Twitter @michaelFhurley.
