Patrice Bergeron’s injury toll: broken rib, torn cartilage, separated shoulder

Boston Bruins' Rich Peverley stands with teammates after they were defeated by the Chicago Blackhawks in Game 6 of their NHL Stanley Cup Finals hockey series in Boston, Massachusetts, June 24, 2013. REUTERS/Winslow Townson (UNITED STATES - Tags: SPORT ICE HOCKEY)

By Sean Leahy | Puck Daddy

BOSTON -- Now that the playoffs are over, the injury information will finally be revealed and we'll know exactly what kind of bumps and bruises the Chicago Blackhawks and Boston Bruins were dealing with.

When Patrice Bergeron left Game 5 after playing just 6 minutes and 6 seconds, the rumors about what happened to him ranged from a back injury to a ruptured spleen. Neither were correct as Bergeron told the media after the Game 6 loss in the Stanley Cup Final.

The Bruins forward said he was dealing with a broken rib, torn cartilage and muscles and a separated shoulder, which Bergeron said he suffered Monday night.

"It’s Stanley Cup Final, everyone’s banged up, everyone wants to help the team," he said. "Obviously I couldn't do that in Game 5. It was mostly because they were worried about my spleen being hurt, so that's why we had to go to the hospital. But everything was fine so it was just the ribs, and the muscles, and the soft tissue. So obviously I would’ve liked to stay in it but I was going through a lot of pain."

Bergeron played 17:45 in Game 6 and was 5-for-11 on faceoffs. It was noticeable during pre-game warmups how gingerly he was skating around. Now we know just what kind of pain he was dealing with, and the kind of injuries these players fight through in order to help their team win a Stanley Cup.

Eight minutes away from forcing a Game 7 only to have the Blackhawks make a dramatic comeback to win the Cup will be a hard memory to forget for Bergeron and the Bruins.

"You work so hard just to get to this point and give yourself a chance to get the Cup," he said. "And you feel like you’re right there, and you have a chance to force Game 7, and definitely it hurts. It doesn't work your way. Have to give credit to Chicago. They played a great series. But at the same time, it's the last thing you want to say.

"It hurts to see them hoisting the cup."

LeBron James Says Paul Pierce is His Biggest Rival

By Mark Evans | Yahoo! Contributor Network

COMMENTARY | Throughout his time in the NBA, people have been looking for the perfect rival for LeBron James. At first, it appeared that Kobe Bryant would fit this mold. Then, the media was quick to build up a potential rivalry with Kevin Durant as Durant was developing into one of the league's best players. Of course, the matchup between the two in last year's NBA Finals played into this.

With this being said, a clear cut rival hasn't quite emerged for LeBron. This is fine, and part of this is certainly the media trying to create hype.

When asked who his biggest rival is, LeBron James had an interesting answer: Paul Pierce.

This makes sense, as the Boston Celtics for a little while were the team that LeBron could never seem to get by, particularly while he was a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers. Also, James and Pierce had an epic battle in the Eastern Conference Semifinals the year the Celtics won the championship. James is clearly the better player, but Pierce has always found a way to step up his game when the two square off.

Is LeBron right here?

Obviously, players such as Durant and Bryant are closer to being on LeBron's level. However, LeBron has never faced Kobe's Los Angeles Lakers in the playoffs, thus making it hard for them to be true rivals. Prior to last year, the same could be said with LeBron and Durant. The Miami Heat clearly dominated Durant's Oklahoma City Thunder in the process of winning a championship, making it hard to call Durant a true rival.

It's probably safer to say that the Boston Celtics as a whole were LeBron's greatest rival in the earlier parts of his career, including Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett, and Rajon Rondo along with Pierce. Even as recently as last year, it took LeBron's Heat a full seven games to knock Boston out of the playoffs. With Pierce being the leader of most of these teams, it's not too much of a stretch to indirectly call him LeBron's closest rival.

Looking forward, one would have to believe that Kevin Durant is the most likely candidate to become LeBron's rival. The Thunder and Heat look fit to arrive in the NBA Finals multiple times over the next few seasons, possibly setting up some more battles between the two. Additionally, it appears that James and Durant will be the top two players in the league for the foreseeable future.

For now, this is a huge compliment for Paul Pierce. When the best player in the world talks about you like this, you must be doing something right.

Mark lives in the Boston area and has been covering the Celtics for 3 years. He has been featured on Fox Sports Yardbarker, Fox Sports, and Sports Illustrated "Hot Clicks", and has been published on Celtics 24/7, Bleacher Report, and Sports-Kings .

source yahoo.com