2004. Due to the 2004–05 NHL lockout, Bergeron played for Boston's minor league affiliate, the Providence Bruins of the American Hockey League (AHL), tallying 61 points in 68 games. As the NHL resumed the following season, Bergeron led the Bruins with a career-high 31 goals and 73 points. He played the majority of the season with linemates Brad Boyes and newcomer Marco Sturm, who had been acquired in a trade that sent captain Joe Thornton to the San Jose Sharks in November 2005. Then Bruins general manager Mike O'Connell recalled in a June 2011 interview that the organization had decided to build the team around Bergeron instead of Thornton, preferring the former's on- and off-ice character. At the end of the year, Bergeron was selected by the Bruins to receive the team's 7th Player Award as the player most deemed to have exceeded expectations. Playing under a defensive system employed by new head coach Dave Lewis, he recorded his second consecutive 70-point campaign in 2006–07 with 22 goals and 48 assists. He again played alongside Sturm and Boyes until the latter was traded late in the season. Bergeron was hampered the majority of the season by a nagging shoulder injury. After recording three goals and four assists in the first ten games of the 2007–08 season, Bergeron suffered a season-ending head injury during a game on October 27, 2007. Checked from behind by Philadelphia Flyers defenceman Randy Jones, Bergeron hit his head on the end-boards, knocking him unconscious. He lay motionless on the ice for several minutes before being wheeled off on a stretcher and taken to Massachusetts General Hospital, where he was diagnosed with a broken nose and a grade-three concussion. Jones received a two-game suspension from the NHL. Bergeron made his first public statements regarding the injury on November 8, saying he would not take any legal action and that Jones had tried to contact him to apologize. On January 19, 2008, the Boston Globe reported Bergeron had been sent on a vacation by then Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli and that he would likely sit out for the remainder of the season as his recovery had regressed. In March 2008, Bergeron started preliminary on-ice practice with Bruins goaltender Manny Fernandez, who was himself recovering from knee surgery. He steadily progressed into full-contact practices in early-April, aiming for a playoff return against the Montreal Canadiens in the opening