Get to Know a Canadien: Marc-Andre Bergeron

For the record, I’m glad it’s the playoffs because cool stuff like this (and your close from yesterday’s recap) can come back to the surface.

You know you’re a journalist when you use the word “aplomb” in your writing.

This guy is getting just shy of 12 minutes a night ES TOI, and his QualComp is the worst of the D with a minimum of 40 GP, with the exception of Mara, who is out.

Looks like Lemaire manages this guy’s minutes pretty carefully.

Against the Caps, I’d guess they’d put him out there against the 4th line, but that line has great potential to abuse him in the cycle and on the forecheck.

It will be an interesting little subplot to see how Lemaire handles his matchups – he’lll be aided a bit by the fact that BB doesn’t do no steeking line matching, of course.

when i hear comments about the canadiens’ lack of size, i always think of gomez and cammalleri. amazing that 4 of their defensemen are also between 5’9’’ and 6’1’’. RW gionta is actually smaller than bergeron and cammalleri (at least officially), coming in at 5’7’’.

it looks like bergeron is a PP specialist in the truest sense of the word…only 12:06 non-PP TOI per game.

Hello Marc, how are you?
Nevermind.

When he played (injury bug hit him, he only played 60 games this year), he did pretty well for my fantasy team. Of his 34 points, 22 were scored on the PP, almost 65% of them. If he had played a full 82 game season he’d be up around 46-47 points, with 30 of those on the PP. He may not have the ES numbers to match, but on the PP he’s definitely a Mike Green-wannabe.

So let me see if I got this right.

During ES, this guy is going to be crushed to the boards by Brads, Beast, Steckel.

On PP, pressure on the point from Backstrom, Brooks, and Semin will cause him to cough up the puck leading to regular SH chances.

Works for me.

This is kind of OT, but…

Is it Thursday yet?

This guy’s game is speed speed speed. If he has room (i.e. on the powerplay) he’s deadly, but in 5-on-5 he’s pretty much just passing time. He can’t do much in the muck/grind game and he really is not shifty enough to get himself open 5-on-5.

The key to this guy, and to this series is to stay out of the penalty box. I don’t think it will be an issue, as the Caps are a fairly disciplined team with one notable exception among the front line players (yes, Sasha, I’m talking about you…).

Pressure, pressure, pressure.

It’s pretty much the same plan the Flyers and Pens had against Green the last two years. Put pressure on him in his own end and hit him. . . a lot.

Pressure, physical pressure. “Crush” Bergeron and the Habs…. LETS GO CAPS

Bergeron is only a concern on the PP; If the Caps keep their feet moving, keep possession of the puck in the offensive zone, and keep up the neutral zone pressure, Montreal will crumble and go to the box, negaitng Bergeron’s use. On the PK, just hound him and he’ll cough it up. Oh, and keep Poti of the goddamn PK and it might not matter anyway.
As long as the Caps make the Habs pay physically for everything they do, this series will not be a problem. If they shy away from hitting, because the habs aren’t hitting them, things are going to get wide open really quick and it will turn into a shooting gallery. Play physical, consistently, every shift, finish checks, win offensive zone draws and make Halak go side to side. Markov is good, and Halak is having a good year; Martin is smart; the Habs are fast. Yadda Yadda Yadda, don’t play Montreals game. Twice this season Montreal duped the Caps into playing their way. Stay clear of that, one game at a time.

If BB and Evason don’t implement a more aggressive PK, the games could stay tight. Stay out of the box (that means you Semin and Morrison.)