If you were watching Sunday evening's Bruins-Devils game, something NESN play-by-play man Jack Edwards said during the third period may have caught your attention.
While talking about Boston captain Patrice Bergeron, Edwards noted that his ice time has been down over the last couple weeks and speculated that he may be battling something physically.
At least the ice time part of it is a fair point. After averaging 18:55 time on ice through the first 15 games this season, Bergeron has dropped down to 16:36 over the last seven. He played 18:53 on Sunday, but that came after a season-low 14:18 on Friday.
Bergeron has dealt with an on-and-off groin issue for several years, so that might be a natural starting point for any speculation.
Bergeron addressed Edwards' comments on Monday, saying he feels good and that it's nothing more than general maintenance.
"I'm feeling good," Bergeron said. "It's obviously a shortened season with a lot of hockey. It was maintenance the day before the New Jersey game. That's it. It's probably, as we go forward as well, I think you look at the amount of games in the amount of days, it is what it is and we have to make the best of it, and that's it. No issues."
"You look at the schedule and it's pretty much, the rest of the year, every other day almost," Bergeron added. "It's a lot of games in a short period of time, and it's definitely something you have to be aware of and make sure you're managing that. That's what Butchy [coach Bruce Cassidy] is doing, I guess."
Bergeron is 35. He's right about the compact schedule over the next couple months. Whether it's the groin, something else, or just trying to make sure an older player doesn't wear down before the playoffs, it's probably smart to manage his minutes when Cassidy can.
That season-low 14:18 on Friday night is a good example. That was a blowout 5-1 win for the Bruins. The game was already wrapped up by the end of the second period. It was also extremely physical in the wake of Tom Wilson's hit to Brandon Carlo's head. It was a perfect opportunity to scale back Bergeron's minutes a little and spare him at least a little bit of wear and tear.
Then on Sunday, in a close game, the Bruins could turn to Bergeron for more minutes when they needed it. This is the kind of load management dance you can expect to see more of: Rest Bergeron a little bit more when there's a good opportunity to do so, play him a little bit more when you need to.
Edwards' comments were a little alarming because it made you wonder if he knows something the rest of us don't -- and maybe he does. But until or unless Bergeron misses a game or two (which hasn't happened yet) or his play declines (which also hasn't happened), we probably don't need to read too much into a dip in ice time.
