Marc-André Bergeron

Marc-André Bergeron

Bergeron with the Hurricanes in 2013.
Born (1980-10-13) October 13, 1980
Saint-Louis-de-France, Quebec
Height 5 ft 9 in (175 cm)
Weight 198 lb (90 kg; 14 st 2 lb)
Position Defence
Shoots Left
NHL team
Former teams
Free Agent
Edmonton Oilers
New York Islanders
Anaheim Ducks
Minnesota Wild
Montreal Canadiens
Tampa Bay Lightning
Carolina Hurricanes
ZSC Lions
NHL Draft Undrafted
Playing career 2002present

Joseph Marc-André Bergeron (born October 13, 1980) is a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman currently an unrestricted free agent who most recently played for the Cleveland Monsters in the American Hockey League (AHL) while under contract to the Columbus Blue Jackets of the National Hockey League (NHL). He returned to the NHL after spending his third season with the Zurich SC of the Swiss-A league. He last played in the NHL for the Carolina Hurricanes in 2013. He is known as a power play specialist, more than half of Bergeron's career goals and points came with the man advantage.

Playing career

Bergeron was signed as a free agent by the Edmonton Oilers in 2001. A swift defenceman with a penchant for end-to-end rushes, he reminded some of former Oiler great Paul Coffey. Bergeron's popularity with Edmonton fans was cemented during the 2003 playoffs when he sent Dallas Stars' Brenden Morrow head-over-heels with an open-ice hip check. Bergeron is well known more for his impressive slapshot than his defensive abilities. At the Edmonton Oilers skills competition, held November 26, 2006, he recorded his second straight victory in the hardest shot competition with a puck speed of 103.5 mph (approximately 165 km/h).

While still with the Oilers, near the end of game one of the 2006 Stanley Cup Finals, Bergeron tried to steer Carolina Hurricanes forward Andrew Ladd wide of the net. However, the two of them piled into Oilers goaltender Dwayne Roloson, causing Roloson to be injured for the remainder of the Finals. The Oilers managed to re-group without Roloson but ultimately fell to the Hurricanes during game seven of the series.

Bergeron during his time with the Minnesota Wild

After parting ways with the Oilers, Bergeron went on to play with the New York Islanders, Anaheim Ducks, and Minnesota Wild. On October 6, 2009, after star defenceman Andrei Markov was injured, Bergeron signed a 1-year contract worth $750,000 US with the Montreal Canadiens. Bergeron proved to be a valuable component to the Canadiens, playing forward on the fourth line as well as defence on power plays. He did, however, suffer a long scoring slump between December 31, 2009 until March 31, 2010.[1] When Bergeron became a free agent on July 1, 2010, the Canadiens did not re-sign him.

He was signed by the Tampa Bay Lightning as a free agent on January 4 and assigned to the Norfolk Admirals of American Hockey League where he recorded two goals and eight points in 13 games. Bergeron was recalled to the Lightning on February 5 and spent the remainder of the season in Tampa Bay, and appeared in 23 games with the Lightning, recording two goals and eight points, including one game-winning goal. He recorded two assists in his Lightning debut on February 6 against the St. Louis Blues and became the third player in franchise history to score his first Lightning goal in overtime (Millar, Gagne) on February 12 versus Carolina. Bergeron became a fan-favourite and helped the team reach the Eastern Conference Finals, against the Boston Bruins. On June 28, 2011, Bergeron was re-signed to a two-year, one-way contract worth $2,000,000.

During the lockout shortened 2012–13 season, Bergeron was traded by the Lightning to the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for Adam Hall and a seventh-round draft pick on April 2, 2013.[2]

On July 19, 2013, Bergeron left the NHL as a free agent and signed to a three-year contract with ZSC Lions of the Swiss National League A.[3] He won the Swiss championship in 2014 and the Swiss Cup in 2016.

After the completion of his three-year deal with the Lions in Switzerland, Bergeron returned to North America as a free agent. Opting to pursue another NHL opportunity, Bergeoron agreed to a professional try-out contract to attend the Columbus Blue Jackets training camp on September 6, 2016.[4] He later signed a pto contract with the Jackets' AHL affiliate, Cleveland Monsters.[5] Producing 9 points in his first 13 games with the Monsters, Bergeron secured a two-way NHL contract with the Blue Jackets for the remainder of the season on February 28, 2017.[6]

Career statistics

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1997–98 Baie-Comeau Drakkar QMJHL 40 6 14 20 48
1998–99 Baie-Comeau Drakkar QMJHL 46 8 14 22 57
1998–99 Shawinigan Cataractes QMJHL 24 6 7 13 66 5 2 2 4 24
1999–00 Shawinigan Cataractes QMJHL 70 24 50 74 173 13 4 7 11 45
2000–01 Shawinigan Cataractes QMJHL 69 42 59 101 185 10 4 11 15 24
2001–02 Hamilton Bulldogs AHL 50 2 13 15 61 9 1 4 5 8
2002–03 Hamilton Bulldogs AHL 66 8 31 39 73 20 0 7 7 25
2002–03 Edmonton Oilers NHL 5 1 1 2 9 1 0 1 1 0
2003–04 Edmonton Oilers NHL 54 9 17 26 26
2003–04 Toronto Roadrunners AHL 17 4 3 7 23
2004–05 Trois-Rivières Caron & Guay LNAH 10 7 5 12 6
2004–05 Brynäs IF SEL 10 3 2 5 72
2005–06 Edmonton Oilers NHL 75 15 20 35 38 18 2 1 3 14
2006–07 Edmonton Oilers NHL 55 8 17 25 28
2006–07 New York Islanders NHL 23 6 15 21 10 5 1 1 2 6
2007–08 New York Islanders NHL 46 9 9 18 16
2007–08 Anaheim Ducks NHL 9 0 1 1 4
2008–09 Minnesota Wild NHL 72 14 18 32 30
2009–10 Hamilton Bulldogs AHL 3 0 6 6 0
2009–10 Montreal Canadiens NHL 60 13 21 34 16 19 2 4 6 10
2010–11 Norfolk Admirals AHL 13 2 6 8 6
2010–11 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 23 2 6 8 8 14 2 1 3 9
2011–12 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 43 4 20 24 20
2012–13 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 12 1 4 5 4
2012–13 Carolina Hurricanes NHL 13 0 4 4 5
2013–14 ZSC Lions NLA 46 7 26 33 40 14 2 6 8 31
2014–15 ZSC Lions NLA 46 4 16 20 38 13 0 6 6 10
2015–16 ZSC Lions NLA 43 7 18 25 22 3 1 1 2 0
2016–17 Cleveland Monsters AHL 22 5 8 13 8
NHL totals 490 82 153 235 214 57 7 8 15 39

Transactions

References

  1. "Marc-André Bergeron 2009-10 game-by-game statistics". TSN.ca. Retrieved 2010-04-02.
  2. "Lightning send Bergeron to Hurricanes for Hall". The Sports Network. 2013-04-02. Retrieved 2013-04-02.
  3. "UFA Defenseman Bergeron signs three year deal with ZSC Lions". The Sports Network. 2013-07-19. Retrieved 2013-07-19.
  4. Ren Lavoie (2016-09-06). "M.A. Bergeron eyes NHL return". Twitter. Retrieved 2016-09-06.
  5. Cleveland Monsters (2016-12-13). "M.A. Bergeron joins AHL team". Twitter. Retrieved 2016-12-13.
  6. "Blue Jackets sign M.A Bergeron to two-way contract". Sportsnet.ca. 2017-02-28. Retrieved 2017-02-28.
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