Fractured rib? Torn rib cartilage? No problem for this NHL player

Boston Bruins’ Patrice Bergeron returned to hospital after Game 6 of the play-off finals. Charles Krupa / AP Photo

Patrice Bergeron brought new meaning to the term playing through the pain barrier after it was revealed he had played in the Stanley Cup finals with a collapsed lung, one of many injuries the Boston Bruins player was suffering from.

The 27-year-old Canadian was admitted to hospital with a string of injuries following Boston’s 3-2 loss to Chicago Blackhawks in Game 6 on June 24, which decided the series. Bergeron suffered a fractured rib, torn rib cartilage, separated right shoulder and, the most serious, a collapsed left lung.

“I’m feeling a lot better,” Bergeron said in his first comments since being released from a Boston hospital.

Bergeron said the good news is that the shoulder will heal on its own and he will not require surgery to repair it. “I guess the ribs and the shoulder now just need to get some time to rest but it’s a lot better,” Bergeron said.

Bergeron was taken to hospital in an ambulance after Game 5 in Chicago because of the torn cartilage but he checked himself out and returned with the team to Boston for the final game of the series.

Bergeron said on Tuesday that his troubles actually started in Game 4 of the series when he tore his rib cartilage.

The list of injuries escalated in the first period of Game 6 when he separated his right shoulder. He went back to the hospital after Game 6 where his breathing also got worse.

“Luckily enough they made the right decision because I went there right away and they found out that my lung had collapsed,” he said.

– Agence France-Presse