Late in the third period of Saturday night’s game in Buffalo, with a Bruins win all but wrapped up, Patrice Bergeron could be seen saying something to Sabres center Tage Thompson before a center-ice faceoff, followed by a hand pat and a stick tap.
Initially, it appeared to maybe just be a case of the veteran Bergeron giving some props to a talented up-and-coming player who had scored an impressive shorthanded goal earlier in the game.
Some on Twitter were quick to point out that Bergeron actually played with Thompson’s father, Brent, in Providence back in 2004-05. That provided some more context and established that there was probably a pre-existing relationship there (the then-19-year-old Bergeron was actually a frequent visitor to the Thompson home and played some street hockey with the then-seven-year-old Tage and his brother).
It turns out there was even more to it than that, though. Thompson told The Buffalo News on Monday that Bergeron was actually asking how Thompson’s wife was doing. His wife, Rachel, had a cancerous mass removed from her leg in 2019.
Thompson told Bergeron that Rachel was cancer-free. He told The Buffalo News that all of her bone scans since surgery have come back cancer-free and that further monitoring won’t be necessary if a final scan next summer comes back clean as well. Fittingly, Saturday was Hockey Fights Cancer Night in Buffalo.
“It’s big,” Thompson told The Buffalo News of the viral moment with Bergeron. “Obviously, he didn’t have to say anything. He kind of went out of his way to check on her and ask how she’s doing. It’s just the kind of guy he is. He’s just a genuine guy, cares about other people.”
That has been true of Bergeron for a long time. Add this to the lengthy list of stories that highlight that fact.
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