Bruins captain Patrice Bergeron talks team vaccination rate and his future in Boston

Boston Bruins veteran forward Patrice Bergeron is entering his first full season as team captain, a position he inherited from Zdeno Chara prior to the start of the shortened 2020-21 campaign. 

The 36 year-old, who has only suited up for the Bruins in his career, is also entering the final year of his contract. It looks as though he'll be keeping B's fans on their toes regarding his future with the Original 6 franchise, as he explained earlier this month that he'll play out this season and then address his contract following the season. 

The Bruins have begun off-ice testing today, and their first on-ice sessions will commence tomorrow. And according to Bergeron, he didn't have to convince his teammates to reach full vaccination status against COVID-19. 

"Nope. There was no meetings about it," he said. "I think everyone was kind of on board and did it organically for their own beliefs and for their own families."

He also had an interesting quip that may have the fans speculating. 

"I'm very aware that I'm Canadian," he said, without any additional context. 

Bergeron was selected by the Bruins in the 2nd round (No. 45 overall) of the 2003 NHL Draft, and has carved out an immensely successful career that's seen him earn the status of one of the top defensive forwards in the League today.

"That's something that a lot of people have asked me this summer," Bergeron said earlier this month. "I think for me, the way that I approach this year is I want to concentrate on this year. I have a year left on my contract, and I think it'd be useless of me to think about the future.

"I think I want to create something special, as I said. We obviously want to work towards winning a Stanley Cup. I know everyone says that, but it's definitely our goal as a team. And I think we always are competitive to be in that group of teams. So I think that's where that's where my focus is at right now."