The idea that Patrice Bergeron would tell Don Sweeney that his decision to either retire or continue playing hinged on whether Bruce Cassidy got fired always seemed far-fetched. It didn’t jibe with basically everything we know about Bergeron’s personality at all.
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Sure enough, Bergeron firmly denies that he had anything to do with Cassidy being fired. In an interview in French with Le Journal de Quebec, Bergeron called the rumor “completely unfounded” and “stupid.”
“It's completely unfounded, so I won't put any energy into it,” Bergeron said, according to Google Translate. “It's a waste of time and it's really stupid speculation.”
Sweeney also denied that Bergeron had any say in the matter when he met with the media Tuesday morning.
“No. I’ve had multiple conversations with Patrice about this organization over the course of my time here. I continue to have them. He has too much respect for Bruce, for me or anybody to make recommendations about the coaches and who he’s gonna play with,” Sweeney said. “Went through the same with Claude [Julien], who he played and had a lot of success with. In my conversations with him yesterday, I did not ask whether this impacts his decision.”
That said, Bergeron did tell Le Journal de Quebec that the news came as “a surprise” to him. He added that it would not impact his final decision on whether to retire or keep playing.
“I always played the same way, no matter the coach,” Bergeron said. “I always had the same desire to want to help the team and give what the coach expects of me, even since minor hockey. It's a pride to play my role the way my coaches want me to play it. It never crossed my mind that Bruce was fired. For me, it remains the same reflection.”
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