BRIGHTON — There’s no clearer barometer of change in the hockey world than the first day of camp, in which a potpourri of hockey talent from various walks of life all spill out onto the same sheet of ice and start to lay the foundations of a promising new season.
With a new campaign comes new faces and new goals, even if the collective mission remains the same for all 32 NHL clubs sprinkled across North America.
The 2021-22 Bruins have witnessed a sea change of sizable proportions over the last few months — with franchise cogs like David Krejci and potentially Tuukka Rask out of the picture, and names like Linus Ullmark, Nick Foligno, Erik Haula and Tomas Nosek added to the mix.
Add in the continued ascension of the next generation of Black-and-Gold stalwarts like David Pastrnak, Charlie McAvoy and other youngsters like Jeremy Swayman — and this current B’s club represents the most significant overhaul of the established veteran core in close to a decade.
But beyond the names and numbers etched into whiteboards and roster sheets during camp, Patrice Bergeron knows that the game of hockey itself has changed far beyond what can be discerned from the transaction wire over the offseason.
Sure, the particular brand of pro hockey has evolved over time, with speed and skill regularly welcomed over size and snarl these days. And the influence of analytics has also given teams and evaluators a window to assess performances and make critical decisions beyond what is mapped out via the basic eye test or film review.
But off the ice, Bergeron has noticed another overdue change — one in which mental health and personal care has been de-stigmatized and encouraged across the game of hockey, and across sports as a whole.
For the captain of the Bruins — whose hallmarks as a leader in Boston’s room include an emphasis of inclusiveness and a steady line of communication from everyone from grizzled veterans to AHL newcomers — encouraging a healthy dialogue on mental health stands as a welcome development, especially in an environment now in which social media and other factors can weigh heavily on the shoulders of pro athletes.
“I think it's something that earlier in my career, it was not something that we were talking a lot about — even though it was still very important. It was something that was almost taboo at times and frowned upon, if you will,” Bergeron said following Boston’s first captain’s practice at Warrior Ice Arena on Monday. “So I think it's great that it's a bit more out there, and that people realize it's okay at times to be vulnerable, and it's okay to ask and seek help. And it's important to do so.”
In wake of a COVID-impacted 2020-21 season where players were often isolated from one another away from the ice and the regular outlets to either air out frustrations or simply disconnect from the pressures of the profession were not afforded to them, the work of sports psychologists such as Dr. Stephen Durant (who works with the Bruins) was especially valued.
Chris Wagner offered a candid and refreshing look last season on the challenges that came with the job as an athlete when you’re often confined to your hotel room or apartment (or staring at a Zoom screen) and the weight that drags individuals down when something as simple as a dinner out on the town or a meetup with friends isn't available to assuage some of the ups and downs that everyone goes through over the course of a year.
And even though the 2021-22 season should hopefully follow a more normalized routine for all players in which protocols and off-ice restrictions are eased, Bergeron believes that the discussion of mental health and the encouragement of an open forum regarding the wellbeing of NHLers beyond the tangible afflictions brought upon by a blocked shot or thunderous hit are thankfully here to stay.
It’s a development that’s not only beneficial to players, as Bergeron puts it.
“For us, as athletes, I think we have a platform to show that we also go through some of that stuff and it's important to reach out and, and I've said that many times — to not suffer alone,” Bergeron said. “I think for me, it's been a learning process, over my career where there's a lot of ups and downs, and there's a lot of pressure and expectations from yourself, from the outside, from your team, or whatever that is.
"There's also a lot of personal matters as well that come into play and you have to deal with as a regular normal human being. ... I think there's a lot of things that you need to realize — (that) it's okay to ask and to seek help.
“I think it's okay to have those conversations, I think it's okay to reach out to your teammates, or to your work colleagues or friends to help in that matter. And, personally, I know we're trying to help each other as well. And we obviously have some people and sports psychologists — Steve Durant has been amazing for us for so many years, that helps us a lot with that aspect of the game and the mental part of it and mental health.”
Oftentimes with change comes criticism, especially in a sport so ingrained into the culture of the old guard such as hockey. Hockey fans are a passionate lot, and it's to be expected for there to be a push back in some respects regarding the changing tides of the sport — be it the growing influence of analytics and those darned fancy algorithms, or the departure of the smash-mouth brand of hockey that plenty of us grew up watching.
But mental health isn't something as divisive as eye test vs. analytics or skill vs. size — at least it shouldn't be, in Bergeron's eyes. And while the game of hockey has certainly changed quite a bit for Bergeron entering his 18th year in a B's sweater — a healthy portion of it has changed for the better.
"I think it's okay to have a bad day," Bergeron concluded. "I think it's totally normal. And it's okay, as I said, to feel down or whatnot, and it's about what you're able to accept and what you want to do with it and how you want to handle that."
