Bergeron brought his usual detailed 200-foot game to the Team Talbot forward group, supporting play down low in the defensive zone as a centerman, helping facilitate breakouts and just overall disrupting plays in all three zones in order to win back pucks. However, what impressed me most about him was the way he made the most of his puck touches and how effective he was at distributing the puck to his linemates to create chances in transition. He showed a great knack for threading pucks through seam that would land right onto the tape of a teammate in motion, allowing for clean exits into the zone and even a few odd man rushes if a defender got too aggressive. He did a very good job of reading and reacting to pressure around him, skating a puck into the space the defenders allotted him or feeding a teammate in space if a defender pulled himself out of position to attack him. This tactical playmaking approach even paid dividends for Bergeron on the scoresheet, finishing at a point-per-game pace with 4 in 4 games.

Bergeron isn’t necessarily a dynamic or flashy offensive player, but he was able to consistently catch my eye thanks in large part to his responsible, detailed and intelligent approach to the game. He was very strong positionally throughout the tournament, always playing above the puck to provide support all over the ice and kill plays defensively. He helped facilitate plenty of give and go’s both in transition and in the offensive zone with hard and accurate one touch passes that lead to controlled entries and slot shots. Bergeron was highly competitive along the perimeter in the offensive zone, utilizing his frame to win inside positioning and come out on top in one on one battles. With the puck on his stick in the offensive zone he often made the right choice with the puck, distributing the puck to open teammates to extend possession off the cycle. His vision with the puck was apparent from time to time as well when he was able to utilize delays once he entered the zone, keep his head up and spot cross-ice options before executing a hard and accurate pass through a seam.

Bergeron brought a detailed defensive game to the Québec forward group while also pulling off some impressive playmaking sequences. In a game that was filled with penalties from start to finish, I thought Bergeron was one of the more effective penalty killers; getting his stick into passing lanes and hounding puck-carriers in order to force turnovers and clear pucks from the zone. He also connected on a few downhill feeds from the halfwall while on the powerplay that helped create looks for teammates down low in the crease area. His best moment came in the third period when he won a puck around an opponent off a faceoff and made a slick cross-ice feed to a teammate who buried it into an open net.

Bergeron was one of the more effective forwards throughout the game but really came alive offensively in the third period where he posted 3 straight primary points to spark his team’s comeback effort. My notes on him in this game largely consisted of him making intelligent reads with the puck and executing an array of passes off the rush that got pucks to teammates in space and created odd man advantages. One of my favorite sequences of his in this game came when he executed a backhand saucer pass to the middle of the ice off the rush, took the return pass off the flank and made a hard dash to the net that ended up earning him a primary assist. He scored his teams 5th goal of the game by getting himself open in the slot and firing a quick shot off a centering pass that beat the goaltender cleanly.