Todd Bergen - 1984-85 Prolific Scorer
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MiamiScreamingEagles
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- Jan 17, 2004
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There have been articles written about Todd Bergen and his abilities and flaws.
He was part of the young guns that penetrated the team in Mike Keenan's first year: Peter Zezel, Rick Tocchet, Derrick Smith, Murray Craven, Dave Brown and others up front. However, he joined mid-stream that first season. A very popular team with fans much of which was borne out of three prior years of playoff misery.
He was an instant success with two goals in his first NHL game. The very next game he suffered an injury and was out two months. That is the considered the genesis of when issues became murky and unsettling. When he returned, he continued to score goals at a productive rate but he complained about the physical routine under Keenan. Supposedly nothing was revealed through X-rays and exams conducted regarding his injury which led to doubts about his desires. As the story goes, he had a pulled stomach issue which wasn't in the forefront of NHL medical circles at the time.
He did have much documented personality conflicts with Keenan.
After the 1985 Cup Finals in which he played, he failed to report to the team's training camp and then retired to play golf a sport in which he excelled. Seeing this, he was suspended by the team. He was traded to Minnesota in late November. Though there was no physical presence of Keenan to blame , he was vocal about the past dissention between the two. He also blamed some of the beat writers saying they didn't believe him. It got contested to say the least.
His strength was his shot. Some even equated that power to what caused his muscle tear.
From what I remember at a distance of his career with Minnesota, his injury situation prolonged and worsened and he had surgery while with the North Stars. That preceded an issue involving money in which he said the team owed him. He refused to report to that franchise over the issue and then retired at a young age again.
To ask how good he could have been, one thing about hockey is the desire to compete and the competitive nature of the individual Without knowing the man, it is tough to be critical through generalization but I seem to recall his agent saying, perhaps damning with faint praise, that Bergen wasn't materialistic and had other interests beside the sport of hockey. Bergen later said he would have played in Philadelphia if not for Keenan's tactics. Who knows where the pointed fingers begin and end. That is part of the clouded summation of a point in time.
He was part of the young guns that penetrated the team in Mike Keenan's first year: Peter Zezel, Rick Tocchet, Derrick Smith, Murray Craven, Dave Brown and others up front. However, he joined mid-stream that first season. A very popular team with fans much of which was borne out of three prior years of playoff misery.
He was an instant success with two goals in his first NHL game. The very next game he suffered an injury and was out two months. That is the considered the genesis of when issues became murky and unsettling. When he returned, he continued to score goals at a productive rate but he complained about the physical routine under Keenan. Supposedly nothing was revealed through X-rays and exams conducted regarding his injury which led to doubts about his desires. As the story goes, he had a pulled stomach issue which wasn't in the forefront of NHL medical circles at the time.
He did have much documented personality conflicts with Keenan.
After the 1985 Cup Finals in which he played, he failed to report to the team's training camp and then retired to play golf a sport in which he excelled. Seeing this, he was suspended by the team. He was traded to Minnesota in late November. Though there was no physical presence of Keenan to blame , he was vocal about the past dissention between the two. He also blamed some of the beat writers saying they didn't believe him. It got contested to say the least.
His strength was his shot. Some even equated that power to what caused his muscle tear.
From what I remember at a distance of his career with Minnesota, his injury situation prolonged and worsened and he had surgery while with the North Stars. That preceded an issue involving money in which he said the team owed him. He refused to report to that franchise over the issue and then retired at a young age again.
To ask how good he could have been, one thing about hockey is the desire to compete and the competitive nature of the individual Without knowing the man, it is tough to be critical through generalization but I seem to recall his agent saying, perhaps damning with faint praise, that Bergen wasn't materialistic and had other interests beside the sport of hockey. Bergen later said he would have played in Philadelphia if not for Keenan's tactics. Who knows where the pointed fingers begin and end. That is part of the clouded summation of a point in time.
Last edited:
From his Wikipedia article:
There was speculation that Bergen was holding out because he was trying to get away from Keenan, to which general manager Bobby Clarke responded, "Who am I gonna trade him for, Lee Trevino?"
There was speculation that Bergen was holding out because he was trying to get away from Keenan, to which general manager Bobby Clarke responded, "Who am I gonna trade him for, Lee Trevino?"
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