Apr 26, 2023; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Bruins center Patrice Bergeron (37) gets ready for a face-off during the first period in game five of the first round of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs against the Florida Panthers at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-Imagn Images Bob DeChiara-Imagn Images

Junior Team Retires Bruins Legends' Number

Originally posted on Breakaway on SI | By Tyler Miller | Last updated Sep 16, 2025 4:00 PM ET

It is not every day when a player of Patrice Bergeron's caliber comes around from a pee-wee team and then as they grow up, they become a superstar in the National Hockey League. But that was the case for the former Boston Bruins legend.

It was announced this week that Bergeron was getting his number retired by one of the junior teams that Bergeron played for when he was just a kid. The Seminaire St-Francois Blizzard put Bergeron's number 23 into the rafters and officially retired it. Not to be confused with the number that Bergeron wore all throughout his NHL career which was 37.

The Séminaire St-François Blizzard have hung Patrice Bergeron’s number in their rafters ⬆️

Have a feeling it won’t be his last Jersey retirement pic.twitter.com/KBL2ZLgbIR
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) September 15, 2025

Bergeron started his career in Quebec with the Sainte-Foy Gouverneurs and then played with the Blizzard and then played for the Acadie-Bathurst Titan of the QMJHL. And then after the QMJHL, he was drafted with the 45th overall pick of the 2003 NHL Draft by the Boston Bruins where he would go down as one of the NHL's all-time greats.

Bergeron played 1,294 career NHL games, all with the Boston Bruins, and tallied 427 goals and 613 assists for a total of 1,040 points in his career. That is quite the accomplishment for a player of his caliber that came from small Quebec leagues and turned into a superstar that will be forever remembered in Bruins history.

Bergeron got to play with players like Brad Marchand for years in his Bruins career. Marchand was usually the left wing on the Bruins first line which Bergeron was the center of. Marchand ended his Bruins career just last year, as he had requested a trade and got sent to the Florida Panthers where he would go on to win the Stanley Cup. Bergeron and Marchand were linemates for a very long time and Bergeron always appreciated having Marchand right by his side.

But to have your number retired by one of the junior teams you played for as a kid, says a lot about the kind of person and player Bergeron was. Bergeron was one that was a two-way player, one of the best defensive forwards the league has, and went out as a Stanley Cup Champion. Bergeron should have his number retired by the Boston Bruins very soon in the future.

This article first appeared on Breakaway on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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