Patrice Bergeron started earning acclaim for his defensive game four seasons ago when he was a legitimate Selke Trophy candidate for the first time. It has taken longer for Bergeron to be appreciated as one of the best all-around players in the NHL. Maybe it started during the Boston Bruins 2011 Stanley Cup run or last years trip to the final, but after playing a major role in Team Canadas gold-medal performance at the Sochi Olympics, the 28-year-old is surely considered among hockeys elite centres. "I think what hes done is he opened a lot of peoples eyes," Boston coach Claude Julien said. "I know at his first Olympics he didnt have, whether it was the opportunity, to do what he did. The last one I think people realized how good he is." Statistically, Bergeron had just two assists in six games, but the Quebec City native shifted from a fourth-line centre role to right-wing alongside Sidney Crosby and never missed a beat. His nearly flawless play wasnt a revelation as much as it underscored his growth from the 2010 Games in Vancouver, where he was the 13th forward. In that tournament, as defenceman Chris Pronger told CBC Sports recently, Bergeron had a smaller role that was "probably a little unfair to him." "Patrice would sit on the bench for long periods of time and then wed get a penalty and turn to him and say, OK, go out and kill it," Pronger told CBC. "Thats a pretty tough, but important, job." Its also an important job to play with Crosby, whose unique talent level and menatal acuity are often difficult to match. Bergeron said during the Olympics that the challenge is to be at his best when on Crosbys wing. "Its about trying to find him when hes open but also its getting open for yourself, not just trying to feed him," Bergeron said of Crosby. "You give him the puck in your zone and he does his thing." Bergeron said playing with not just Crosby but everyone on that deep, talented Team Canada made him better. "I think it helped me with the confidence being there, and the pace and the level of the game down there, it definitely helped me coming back here," Bergeron said last week in Detroit before the Bruins finished off the Red Wings to set up a showdown with the Montreal Canadiens that begins Thursday. Sochi gave Bergeron an international showcase to show his stuff, but he has been a key cog for the Bruins for a number of years. He has played 70-plus games in eight of nine full NHL seasons since entering the league in 2003 and had 20 points in 23 games when Boston won the Cup in 2011. This season, though, he was downright dominant at times. With 62 points in 80 games, a league-best plus-38 rating and a 58.6 per cent success rate in the faceoff circle, Bergeron was the Bruins most important forward as they won the Presidents Trophy. "I didnt think a guy thats already played eight or nine years can get better each and every year, but he is," winger Brad Marchand said in Toronto late in the regular season. "Hes the reason why weve won this many games this year and why we won the Cup. Hes a phenomenal player, a great leader, and every night hes on the ice hes a guy you want to follow." At one time Bergeron was the player doing the following. Even though he was taught defensive responsibility while growing up in hockey, Bergeron looked to Ted Donato and others who were winning faceoffs and playing in their own end. Now a veteran on the verge of beginning his US$52-million, eight-year contract signed last summer, Bergeron is now in the position of instilling those principles in younger teammates. "I mean its how I play so Im always trying to talk about that, talk about making sure we come back on the backcheck and we do the right thing defensively to create some offence," Bergeron said. Bergeron doesnt just help Bruins players. Red Wings centre Riley Sheahan, who was a key piece of their run to the playoffs, said he studies Bergerons game to improve his own. Even players at other positions appreciate what Bergeron brings to the ice. Detroit defenceman Brendan Smith has noticed Bergerons game even more now that brother Reilly is his teammate in Boston. "He reminds me of (Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg) because hes so good defensively, hes so good offensively," Smith said. "Hes above the play. He makes good decisions. Hes a second quick. Hes strong on the puck. He makes good reads. You go through the list about a player like Bergeron." Brendan Smith said Reilly has picked up plenty of tidbits from Bergeron, and according to Julien hes far from the only one who can say that. "Anybody that plays with him and sees his work ethic doesnt have a choice but to follow this guy," Julien said. "That just makes those players better. If we see a player that has skill and some potential, we know playing with Bergie that the other parts of his game will improve. That certainly is something weve always looked at." Forget about younger players. Even as Bergeron is a well-established pro, hes trying to tweak elements of his game that arent quite perfect. "Youre always trying to work on things," Bergeron said. "Coaches are doing a great job of showing me some videos with my stick in the right position on the PK or whatnot. So I think you definitely improve every time you put some work into it." Vapormax 2 Flyknit Clearance . Smith has spent the last three seasons with the Rockies, playing both left and right field, and has a .275 batting average with 51 homers and 181 RBIs in 487 major league games. 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Horachek was promoted to interim head coach Wednesday, a day after Randy Carlyle was fired. Were going to wait until the off-season now, he said. Ive been pleased with just the early reports from Peter. Peter will be one of the people that we will consider at the end of the year but were going to wait until the end of the year. Shanahan wouldn’t get into the types of moves he anticipates making in the future, saying simply, “If we have an opportunity to make this team better, we will.” “We in management prepare for each and every game but you’re also constantly looking down the horizon. We certainly have a good feel for what we’ve seen so far, we don’t always share our plan because our plan can change.” “We (management) are watching and we wont be afraid to act if things dont get better.” Toronto dropped a 6-2 home decision to the Washington Capitals on Wednesday night, just hours after Horachek was promoted. The club resumes action Friday night, hosting the Columbus Blue Jackets. Shanahan spoke following Torontos pre-game skate, his first availability since Carlyles dismissal. The first-year president said he was his intention to meet with reporters at the halfway point of the season to discuss the teams fortunes to that point. Heading into Fridays action, Toronto (21-17-3, 45 points) is tied with the Florida Panthers for ninth in the Eastern Conference standings, three points behind eighth-place Boston (21-15-6), which faces Philadelphia later in the evening. But Toronto has dropped five of its last six games and is 2-8-0 in its last 10 contests. The Leafs havent won at home since Dec. 16 and their last victory in regulation came Dec. 28. I think our assessment has been fair to say that it hasnt been good enough, Shanahan said. Weve seen our team and this group play the kind of hockey we want to play, some very good hockey. But the fact of the matter is to have success in this league you have to be more consistent . . . we have not been consistent enough. We felt there was a change that needed to be made (and) going forward with this group as we now get into the second half were going to learn a lot more about the entire team.dddddddddddd Shanahan said general manager Dave Nonis decided to make the coaching change following a discussion with the Leafs hierarchy. Shanahan added such conclusions are usually made by committee following a discussion involving himself, Nonis, assistant GM Kyle Dubas, player-personnel director Mark Hunter and Brandon Pridham, Noniss assistant. Its not any one person, he said. Generally speaking when we have a big decision to make or direction we want to go, we discuss it as a group. I think Dave felt it was his job to make that call. I agree with him, hes the general manager. He made that call, he made that announcement but we make all these decisions as a group, we dont hide behind any one person. Shanahan said with the coaching change, the onus is squarely on Leafs players to perform. Shanahan met with them following Fridays skate and made it clear management is watching with a clear mandate to make whatever changes are necessary to improve the clubs sagging fortunes. Once you get around this time of year and obviously with the changes we made to the coaching staff i felt it was a good time to remind them of what their expectations are and try to galvanize the group, he said. Were not at the end of the season, were at the midpoint of the season and theyre still in the hunt. How theyre going to be defined is really up to them at this point. I also wanted to make it very clear to them that were watching and that were on it. Whether weve seen some good things or bad things theyre not getting by us, theyre not escaping us. Were not going to be a group that is afraid to act if we feel were going to be able to make ourselves better. And Shanahan made it clear there are no untouchables on the Leafs roster. I dont know how many teams ever proclaim that players are untouchable, he said. If we have an opportunity to make this club better, we will. Following Friday nights home game, the Leafs will embark on a four-game road trip with contests against Los Angeles, Anaheim, San Jose and St. Louis before returning home to face Carolina on Jan. 19. Shanahan said he plans to make the trip to L.A. Its a tough trip, he said. We know that this is a difficult part of the schedule. I think its an important time for our guys so, yeah, I will be there. ' ' '