Lightning sign Marc-Andre Bergeron
by John Fontana on Jan 4, 2011 4:30 PM EST
in Lightning Team News
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PrintBreaking news this afternoon is that the Lightning made another move to solidify depth and strengthen the team in one way or another. Free agent defenseman Marc-Andre Bergeron has been signed to a 1-year, two-way contract.
Mike Corcoran, reporting via Twitter, told his followers that Bergeron would be reporting to the Norfolk Admirals for conditioning.
Undersized, Bergeron fits into Guy Boucher's system as a puck moving, offensive defenseman. But the move does ultimately make one wonder what is going to happen next with the Lightning roster. The Bolt sare carrying 3 goalies and the plan was to carry 8 defensemen... What should we look for in a move to get the roster into a perfect balance? Will we see another move on the blueline? Or perhaps a longer range plan that clears a roster spot in exchange for a low draft choice?
This is shaping up to be a very interesting second half, regardless.
We'll provide the press release when it becomes available. Afer the jump, you'll find two videos of note
[Note by John Fontana, 01/04/11 7:31 PM EST ]Press release now included.
On the power play...
And one highlighted defensive effort:
TAMPA BAY – The Tampa Bay Lightning signed defenseman Marc-Andre Bergeron to a one-year, two-way contract today, Vice President and General Manager Steve Yzerman announced.
Bergeron, 5-foot-9, 198 pounds, played in 60 games with the Montreal Canadiens last season, recording 13 goals and 34 points. He led all Montreal defensemen in goals and was tied for the lead in points. Bergeron was tied for the team lead for game-winning goals with four and third for power play goals with seven. He was tied for ninth in the NHL for goals among defensemen. Bergeron also played in three games with Montreal’s AHL affiliate, the Hamilton Bulldogs, notching six assists.
A native of Trois-Rivieres, Quebec, Bergeron has played in 399 career NHL games with the Edmonton Oilers, New York Islanders, Anaheim Ducks, Minnesota Wild and the Canadiens. He has amassed 75 goals, 43 power play goals and 194 points. During the previous two seasons the offensive defenseman has ranked tied for fourth in the NHL among defensemen in goals with 27 and fifth for goals per game with .205. Bergeron has eclipsed the 10-goal barrier on three occasions since the 2005-06 season (2005-06, 15; 2008-09, 14; 2009-10, 13). Bergeron has also played in 43 career Stanley Cup Playoff games, recording five goals and 12 points, including 19 games last season with Montreal.
Bergeron was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Oilers on July 20, 2001.
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The guy is a pretty damn good player
I’m glad that we signed him.
"1 - 2 - Freddy's coming for you, 3 - 4 - Better lock your door, 5 - 6 - Grab your crucifix, 7 - 8 - Better stay up late, 9 - 10 - Never sleep again..."
Nice defensive play!
From a defenseman that is known to be, um, shall we say, “deficient” in defensive capabilities… He has one heck of a cannon on the point of a PP though. I imagine he’ll be mostly a PP specialist, with an occasional regular strength shift. This isn’t a surprise though. Steve Yzerman was looking at him all the way back in November. But still, if he can help solidify the PP, then he is welcome!
Trouble on the ice? Wait! Andre Roy could fix it!!
He doesn’t. Svatos came over from the KHL, which is why he had to clear. Bergeron hasn’t been playing, so it’s a non-issue.
A posse ad esse.
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by Jonathan Willis on Jan 4, 2011 8:30 PM EST up reply actions
Has anyone told Roli that Stevie Y just signed his bad luck charm?
Probably not. He was superb against the Caps. Probably blow a gasket or two when he finds out that he and MAB are teammates again.
And the story with that is…?
The ways of Jedi Master Yzerman are not the ways of others.
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by Cassie McClellan on Jan 5, 2011 8:30 AM EST up reply actions
I can’t believe a team that has the 4th best PP in the NHL and is 26th in Goals Against decided to sign Bergeron, but hey, what do you know.
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It’s the Boucher system. I’ve seen a local beat call MAB the “prototypical” Boucher 7th D-man.
Typing is an adventure, and reading should be, too!
Raw Charge.
by John Fontana on Jan 5, 2011 11:19 AM EST up reply actions
Oh yeah
I assume Stevie Y did this to secure RDS as the official Lightning cable broadcaster.
Puck Worlds: Chasing Pucks from here to Turku.
For Twitter Updates on Puck Worlds, follow @puckworlds. For updates plus additional witty banter from yours truly, follow @saskhab.
Have the Lightning met their quota of French Canadians to make that happen now? ;o)
The ways of Jedi Master Yzerman are not the ways of others.
Raw Charge, an SBN Tampa Bay Lightning community. Follow me on Twitter: @dagmar27.
by Cassie McClellan on Jan 5, 2011 8:31 AM EST up reply actions
So....
Did we ever get a definitive answer as to whether MAB has to go thru waivers first?
It is my understanding (from the information I’ve been able to gather) that he does indeed have to pass thru waivers because this is not a “conditioning assignment”. To send a roster player to the minors for a conditioning assignment does not require clearing waivers, but because they want MAB to play a lot in Norfolk first, he had to be sent down. The 2 way contract pays him a different (much lower) amount in the minors than in the NHL and that is important also.
A conditioning assignment allows for the player to stay in the minors for ONLY 2 weeks or to play ONLY 5 games before he must be called up. Guess that is to prevent teams from sending a player down that they want to stash in the minors without giving the rest of the league a shot at him first.
Anyway, because they want MAB to stay longer than 2 weeks and play a lot more than 5 games (he needs to really test that knee under game condidtions) he had to be waived first then sent down. He will not, however require re-entry waivers because his salary in the minors is at or under 105K. (Strange cut off point, but hey, it’s the rule).
So MAB goes on waivers today at noon and we will know Thursday at noon if he cleared or he’s been claimed by somebody—either somebody that can really use him or somebody that just wants to keep him away from the Lightning (AKA Atlanta, Washington, Carolina)
Trouble on the ice? Wait! Andre Roy could fix it!!
Again, the above information is just what I’ve been able to gather and may indeed be totally wrong.
Trouble on the ice? Wait! Andre Roy could fix it!!
by Tina Robinson on Jan 5, 2011 11:17 AM EST up reply actions
He will be on waivers as of noon ET (per Damian Crisodero’s game notes)
Typing is an adventure, and reading should be, too!
Raw Charge.
by John Fontana on Jan 5, 2011 11:20 AM EST up reply actions
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