Montreal Canadiens say no to Marc-Andre Bergeron
Despite recently receiving the green light to start playing again, the Montreal Canadiens have made it clear they have no interest in re-signing defenceman Marc-Andre Bergeron.
"Pierre Gauthier called me to tell me that the they have no interest on the part of the Montreal Canadiens," said Bergeron's manager Paul Corbeil, speaking to French news outlet, cyberpresse.ca. "Of course he's a little disappointed, he never tried to hide
his desire to return to return to Montreal and play for the Canadiens again, but at the same time, we were expecting this."
Bergeron hasn’t played since the Canadiens were eliminated from the play-offs by the Philadelphia Flyers. The defenceman was forced to sit out the beginning of the season following knee surgery.
Even though Bergeron had hoped to return to the Canadiens line-up, Bergeron told cyberpresse.ca that he’s happy that he's ready to play. "Obviously I'm very happy to have been given the green light to play," said the Trois-Rivere native. "I worked very hard
for this."
The fact that he reportedly has multiple teams enquiring about him is another reason to smile. The Anaheim Ducks, the New York Rangers, and the Tampa Bay Lightning are all teams that are supposedly interested in adding the 30-year-old blue-liner.
After Markov went down in the first game of the 2009-10 season with a sliced Achilles tendon, Bergeron was signed to a one-year contract worth $750,000 US with the Montreal Canadiens. During his time with the Habs, Bergeron bolstered the power-play with
his incredibly strong shot, registering 13 goals and 34 points in the regular season.
Bergeron had a bittersweet relationship with fans in Montreal. While he was a key piece to the Canadiens' number two ranked power play, he was seen as a defensive liability, drawing the ire of many fans. When he wasn’t playing on the point for the power
play, Bergeron was often made into a fourth line forward. Bergeron only played an average of 11:54 even-strength ice-time, the lowest of all regular Montreal defensemen.
After going undrafted, Bergeron signed with the Edmonton Oilers as a free agent in 2001. He started playing for the team regularly during the 2003-04 season. On 18 February 2007, Bergeron was traded to the New York Islanders. Bergeron briefly played for
the Anaheim Ducks and the Minnesota Wild before signing to Montreal. In 399 career NHL games, Bergeron has 75 goals, 194 points and a career rating of minus four.
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