(Quebec) Sillery’s son Patrice Bergeron received a heartfelt tribute Thursday evening in Quebec, the city of his childhood where he could see himself returning one day and, who knows, occupying a position in a hypothetical NHL team.
The young retiree made the ceremonial puck drop before the preparatory game between the Bruins and the Kings. The 17,334 spectators at the Videotron Center – according to the official count – gave him a nice ovation. In the stands, we could mainly see black and yellow sweaters, with, here and there, small touches of blue. Nostalgia is never far away in Quebec.
“I remember coming to Nordiques games with my parents, with my uncle, and of course, the pee-wee tournament in Quebec,” recalled Bergeron.
Born in L’Ancienne-Lorette, passed through the South Shore of Quebec, the 39-year-old retiree lived mainly in the Sillery district. Then he left the capital at 17 for the Major Junior Hockey League, then the NHL… He still lives in Boston with his wife, from Quebec, and their four children aged 1 to 8. In fact, he has now spent the majority of his life in Massachusetts.
A Boston journalist asked him, a few moments before his tribute, if he would one day see himself occupying a position on an NHL team… in Quebec.
“It’s something I would consider. I was a huge Nordiques fan growing up. It would be something special. At the same time, I was a part of the Bruins for 20 years, this organization has a big place in my heart. But it’s definitely something I would consider. »
Full-time dad
Bergeron isn’t ready to return to hockey yet, even though he is still in love with the sport. His wife returned to school. And he decided to make up for lost time with his family.
My children are still young, I consider myself lucky for that. I am retired, but I am 39 years old! I’m in a different situation and I’m grateful for that, to have the chance to be able to focus all my time on family, activities, children.
Patrice Bergeron
One day, “kids are going to prefer to be with their friends than with their dad,” and Bergeron might be tempted to return to hockey in one capacity or another. He is also thinking about the possibility of returning to Quebec, the day his partner finishes her studies started in Boston.
“The door is not closed yet, no decision has been made, we are both from the Quebec region, our families are here,” he said. We come back every year, for the holidays, for the festivals. It’s important for the children to continue speaking French, to be there with their family, grandparents, cousins…”
A gentleman among gentlemen, Bergeron answered all the journalists’ questions, and at the end, he still stood straight, in his suit, ready to chat for many more minutes.
How does he take this tribute paid by thousands of fans in a city where he has not played since 2002, when he put on skates for the Blizzard du Séminaire Saint-François, in AAA midget?
“The spotlight is definitely not my favorite part. I took a step back, I thought about it and I see it as my way of saying thank you to the people of the region, of Quebec, to my family, to friends, those who helped me from near or far. »
Major absentees
The stands were well-stocked at the Videotron Center on Thursday evening. But the crowd, more than respectable for a preparatory match, could not forget the absence of several important players.
The Legault government has never hidden it: behind the coming of the NHL to the capital, there was the idea of sending a message to the League. “We hope that Mr. Bettman will come visit us during these games-there,” François Legault even said last November. However, Gary Bettman was absent Thursday evening in Quebec. “We do very few trips during the preseason,” explained a League spokesperson, John Dellapina, to explain the absence of the big names from the Bettman circuit.
Mr. Legault himself was not in the amphitheater, having gone on a mission to Europe. The mayor of Quebec, also on the Old Continent, was conspicuous by his absence. The former mayor of Quebec and great architect of the construction of the Videotron Center, Régis Labeaume, was also not seen on site.
Two demonstrations against subsidies
If the dream of seeing the NHL again in Quebec seems, among the population, to be at its lowest point in ages, the discontent against the subsidy for the presentation of the two Kings preparatory matches does not seem to be running out of steam.
PHOTO PATRICE BERGERON, THE CANADIAN PRESS
Liberal leader Marc Tanguay Thursday at the National Assembly
The first period took place at the National Assembly on Thursday morning, when the interim leader of the Liberal Party, Marc Tanguay, pulled a rabbit out of his hat in front of journalists: a “The King of Deficits” sweater, flocked with the name of the Prime Minister.
A little later, hundreds of demonstrators gathered in a park in the capital at the call of unions and community groups to denounce the subsidy of five to seven million granted by Quebec.
“I think there is a market in Quebec for an NHL team. But we are not going to prove that there is a market by subsidizing an NHL team, launched the solidarity MP for Jean-Lesage, Sol Zanetti. We haven’t proven anything at the moment. If we had welcomed them without public money, we would have had proof. »
A stone’s throw away, activists from the Conservative Party of Quebec denounced the same subsidy, which seems to be able to unite the political extremes.
COURTESY PHOTO
Conservative Leader Éric Duhaime, in front of the Videotron Center on Thursday
“It sends the message that Quebec is not capable of selling all the tickets for an NHL game, when I think a lot of people chose not to go to the game because they are upset about the subsidy” , believes Éric Duhaime.