The Bergy Bruins
A Player Spotlight on Patrice Bergeron
By: Makena Nevells
Boston Bruins Center, and Captain, Patrice Bergeron is one of a kind. With his skill, and attitude, both incomparable, he has impacted the teams he has been on.
“In the art of the draw, Bergeron has few, if any, equals.” The NHL network said.
His assets can be seen without looking at the stats though.
“What makes him a special player on and off the ice is that he’s someone who comes in every day with the right attitude,” says teammate Sidney Crosby to Eric Russo from NHLBruins when talking about Bergeron after he received his 1000th game milestone in 2019.
Bergeron and his family even donated $50,000 after the murder of George Floyd to NAACP Boston in order to show their support for the family.
In 2021, Bergeron received the Mark Messier NHL Leadership award, which recognizes players that exhibit amazing leadership on and off the ice. Bergeron has fit and continues to fit this description, as he participates and creates events like the Holiday Toy Shopping event for children in hospitals, Cuts for a Cause which involves Bruins players shaving their heads while raising money for the Boston Bruins Foundation and Tuft’s Children Hospital. Bergeron even helped raise $375,000 by partnering with The Boston Bruins Foundation and 98.5 Sports Hub to give to Tufts Children’s Hospital.
Bergeron left the game after getting hit by Pasternak’s deflected puck. Brad Marchand, Bergeron’s teammate, explained his amazement on how strong Bergeron was.
“He’s gonna play through anything. It makes you want to go through a wall when you see a guy like that come back, who literally will play through anything and sacrifice any part of his body to win a game. He could easily walk away from that and rest up for the next one, but it says a lot about his character and who he is as a player and a captain and that’s why he is who he is.”
Coach Jim Montgomery also explained how he appreciates Bergeron’s toughness,
“I mean really, we’re up in the game, 3-1, he knows that and he’s back in the locker room, and still, he comes out right away…Just a tremendous amount of respect for his toughness, his pride in wearing the ‘Spoked B’… He’s one of the toughest… There’s toughness in what you’re willing to do, how much pain you’re willing to play with. The trainers told me right away, ‘He’ll be back’ because I’ve never seen anyone play with more pain.”
Since then, he has continued to exceed expectations and impress Head Coach Jim Montgomery as Bergeron was the first player Montgomery called after getting the job in Boston earlier in 2022.
When looking at stats, Bergeron has more assists than goals, but that takes nothing away from his talent. He sees opportunities that would be better handled by someone else and is always thinking about the team over himself. The Captain, Veteran, and Father is a role model for not only younger kids, but other hockey players. Boston is lucky to have him.
Boston’s Brick Wall
A Historical Season for Linus Ullmark
By: Logan Brower
There is no doubt in anybody’s mind that the Boston Bruins are absolutely dominant this season. Having already broken many records this year, the B’s are the clear favorite to win the President’s Trophy, as well as the Stanley Cup. This success could be attributed to multiple factors, including star quality goal scorers and elite defensemen. While these are definitely important pieces, a major portion of Boston’s success is the 6’5” Swedish brick wall standing between the pipes.
In his second year as a Boston Bruin, the former Buffalo Sabres goalie, Linus Ullmark, has been playing the best hockey of his life. This year he has 32 wins, 4 losses, and 1 overtime loss. He leads the NHL in both goals against average, and save percentage, with 1.89 and .938% respectively. Oh yeah, and he also has a goal.
On Saturday, February 25th 2023, Linus Ullmark became the 13th goalie in NHL history, and the first in Bruins history to score a goal. In the final minute of a 2-1 game in Vancouver, British Columbia, the Canucks emptied their net attempting to pull themselves into overtime. Ullmark had different plans, a player for Vancouver dumps the puck into the zone, and acting like it was effortless, Ullmark skates to the puck, rotates on his skates to set up with his forehand, and launches the puck down the ice straight into the net to seal away the victory. After his goal he was swarmed by teammates and as Ullmark recaps, “Someone in the pile that told me, ‘You have to go to the bench, you have to go to the bench,'” (via NHL.com)
This historic goal made Ullmark the first goalie since 2020 to score a goal in the NHL, and the first Burin to achieve this feat. He was so incredibly excited that he told NHL reporters, “It’s hard to describe what I’m feeling right now. I have to kind of digest it all. I’m just so bloody happy.”
Later on in this same western road trip, the B’s faced off against the Calgary Flames. The Bruins went on to win this game 3-4 in overtime after facing 57 shots on goal. Of these 57 shots Ullmark made a career high 54 saves, breaking the Bruins record for most saves in a game. NESN asked head coach Jim Montgomery if Ullmark “stole” the win from the flames, “Absolutely, he did,” the coach replied. NESN was later able to speak with the record breaking goalie asking him about how he feels he performed in this game, “It was a lot of fun. You never really want to get up to almost 60 shots in the game, but I’ll take it. We got two points and we’ll go home with a four-game road trip win streak. Love it.”
These two recent games, on top of his already incredible performance and all star appearance (which he won by the way) have cemented Linus Ullmark as this year’s best goalie, and with possibly one of the best seasons of all time.
Chasing Greatness
By Lyndsee Reed
For the past four years, Megan Dorr has been a crucial member of the Hermon Hawks Cheerleading team. During this time she has won the State Championship title her freshman and sophomore year, while being a runner-up her junior year. With the reputation the cheerleading program has produced, being a part of it all can be a daunting task at times. But it can also be a very rewarding experience and that’s one of the many reasons that keeps her coming back each year.
According to Megan, there’s nothing like coming off the mat after completely nailing your performance or hearing your team get announced in first place: “When we win it’s the best feeling.” That, along with the “adrenaline before a performance”, is why she laces up her cheer shoes in the winter. It’s far from easy to be a cheerleader, but it’s a challenge she takes in stride each year in order to improve: “I definitely think my flying skills have improved a lot because I would always be scared to try new and scary things. This year I’ve been trying to keep an open mind and just try those different skills out.”
Now, being in her senior year she not only has to focus on her own skills improving, but also finding ways to lead and help her teammates refine theirs. There are no set rules on how to lead a team, but she believes “having a positive attitude and speaking up when it’s needed” is an important part of the process. “I also think about how I wish seniors in the past had acted as leaders.” Being able to recall how the leaders before her choose to approach this pivotal position has been very beneficial for her. She’s used the methods of leaders she’s found impactful, while trying to stay away from the techniques of those that were not.
Yet unlike the years in the past, Hermon cheering hasn’t been as dominant. Only placing in as high as 3rd place in competitions this year, that room for improvement and need for strong leadership has grown increasingly bigger. She believes that the slow start this season could be a result from the loss from last season. The confidence aspect has been affected greatly, especially with the talent of the competition this year. “We were humbled. We didn’t think that our opponents were going to be as big of a threat as they actually are.”
Despite the challenges that lie ahead, her mindset hasn’t changed: “I’m going to work as hard as I can for the positions I’m in and get the best out of it because I want to win my senior year.” She has some major goals in mind for herself and her teammates. She wants to go out on a high note. But in order for that to happen she believes “everyone needs to work 10x harder than what they are working now and we need to be more serious”. Megan and the rest of the squad will have to push themselves harder than before and be nearly perfect to pull off a win this year. This is a task that she believes is far from impossible.
Switching Birds: A Hawk to an Eagle
Player Spotlight on Lyndsee Reed
By: Allie Cameron 
Lyndsee Reed is currently a senior at Hermon High School.
But not for too much longer.
In the fall of 2023, Lyndsee will be changing species of birds, becoming a Husson Eagle, where she will be playing Women’s Soccer and Softball.
“I love sports, and I’m glad it’s not ending,” Reed states. Only about 7% of high school athletes get to continue their careers collegiately (scholarshipstats.com). And Lyndsee is now a part of that 7%. And she isn’t just playing one sport, but two: “It’s so exciting for me because I thought softball would go through, but I didn’t know about soccer,” Reed says.
(Photo Credit: Michael Seamans)
That’s not all there’s to be excited about, she says: “being able to play with Maddy Higgins and people that I know, and some of the softball girls I’ve played with over the summer so I know some of them, so that’s exciting.”
Lyndsee relishes the opportunity to be able to compete at a higher competitive level: “I’m kind of excited to be at a different level,” Reed says, “having more challenging games and having ways to always improve and get better during the season will be exciting.”
“I’m also looking forward to how close the teams get because it kind of becomes your second family,” she adds, “And having bonds with those girls and getting relationships that will last the rest of my life is also exciting.”
The Hermon school and community wishes Lyndsee the best of luck in continuing her athletic career.
The Hermon Press 