It isn’t anything in an official capacity at this point, but there is something overwhelmingly great about seeing Patrice Bergeron on the ice in coaching gear, giving pointers to the current Bruins players during practice.
Bergeron was on the ice at Warrior Ice Arena this past week, working with Fraser Minten and Morgan Geekie in particular, with the future Hall of Famer putting the 21-year-old Minten through the paces of his quick wrist shot from the bumper position on the power play. With Geekie, it also involves some bumper work, as well as putting a good tip on pucks around the net front, an area where Geekie will be able to pick up a few more goals when things slow down offensively, as they have with just one goal in 14 games during the month of March.
“He was a staple in the bumper here and kind of revolutionized how that [position on the PP] was played being able to score while moving it all over,” said an appreciative Geekie after the tutoring work on the ice. “It’s always good to have a legend like that who can teach you some things.”
Patrice Bergeron is on the ice before Bruins practice working with Morgan Geekie and Fraser Minten.
— Scott McLaughlin (@smclaughlin9) March 27, 2026
Here’s a tip drill with Geekie. pic.twitter.com/d6pKlQ8kBk
Bergeron has obviously kept a pretty high hockey profile since retirement with his alternate Emmy Award-winning “Unobstructed Views” NESN broadcast of Bruins games with Andrew Raycroft and Tuukka Rask, his community work, and commercials for a number of local companies, including Sal’s Pizza, and getting involved with coaching his growing children in youth hockey.
But he’s also been very careful about any on-ice involvement with the Boston Bruins over the last few years in terms of coaching and/or a potential future in the front office or management, even as longtime teammates like Zdeno Chara, Adam McQuaid, Chris Kelly and Marco Sturm have obviously become very involved with the Original Six organization.
Many thought it was Bergeron’s first time on the ice tutoring the NHL guys on Friday, but Sturm indicated he’s been around periodically this season and has an open door to come help anytime the opportunity presents itself.
“He’s been here a bunch of times. You just didn’t know it,” said Sturm with a wink and a smile to the media after Friday’s practice. “He’s obviously not here every day like [Zdeno Chara], but because it’s Bergeron – the best in the business – and because we have a very good relationship…you try to get him in every once in a to give those guys a few tips and to work on some stuff.
“That was not his first time here, but that was the first time you could see him here. He was working on some things with [Geekie] and [Minten] and a few other guys behind the scenes. I think it’s just great. You want to take that opportunity to pick his brain because he’s just the best.”
Clearly, a guy like Minten has plenty he can learn from Bergeron as a young, two-way center that prides himself on his details just as much as any offensive production that comes from his role centering David Pastrnak and Marat Khusnutdinov. And that’s really the point to maximize the experience a young potential No. 1 center can absorb like a sponge just from being around the best two-way center, and one of the biggest winners, of his generation.
“Lots of good stuff. That’s the second time we’ve kind of done that and the first time we’ve worked on