Patrice Bergeron Suffered 'Moderate' Concussion In Tuesday Night's Game
BOSTON (CBS) -- Boston feared for the worst when Patrice Bergeron left Tuesday night's game after his head made contact with an opponent's elbow, and Bruins general manage on Wednesday afternoon confirmed those fears.
Chiarelli announced that Bergeron suffered a concussion on the play. Chiarelli described the concussion as "moderate," though he did not speculate how long Bergeron is expected to be out of the lineup.
"I talked to him [Wednesday afternoon]," Chiarelli said. "He was in very good spirits. He was out walking today. He was annoyed at it. He was emotional last night.
"I don't know when you'll see him again [on the ice]. ... He sounded really good. I told him we'll work together in getting him back."
Chiarelli said that Bergeron got hit in the back of the head, behind the ear, and that his neck is very sore.
Bergeron has a history of concussion, dating back to Randy Jones' hit in October of 2007 that ended Bergeron's season and put his career in jeopardy. He returned the following season, though he was again sidelined for more than a month when his head collided with the shoulder of Dennis Seidenberg (then of the Hurricanes). And in the 2011 playoff run, Bergeron suffered a concussion in the clinching Game 4 of the Eastern Conference semifinals, keeping him out of action for nearly two weeks and forcing him to miss the first two games of the conference finals against Tampa Bay. He returned against Tampa -- registering two goals, an assist and a plus- rating in five games -- before posting 2-3-5 totals and a plus-5 rating in the Stanley Cup Final against Vancouver.
Chiarelli said the injury didn't affect his plans on trade deadline day.
"There's no way I'm going to replace him," Chiarelli said. "There's not that caliber of player, so I'm not going to chase it all day."
