Dan Hickling
MLN Sports Zone

MANCHESTER, N.H. -- It was as if the puck was the last biscuit on the dinner table.

Two highly prized youngsters, Patrice Bergeron and Andy Hilbert, line mates with the Providence Bruins, but opponents in the AHL's annual mid-winter All-Star classic, were fighting over a loose puck in the first period so fiercely that they barely recognized each other.

"I didn't even see that it was Hilbie at first," said Bergeron, who soldiered for Team Canada despite a battle royal with the flu. "If I knew, I would have given him the puck."

That of course, would have been the natural thing to do. After all, the gifted centerman has dished on several of Hilbert's 27 goals (at the break) for the P-Bruins.

Bergeron, who, at 19, is the youngest player in the AHL, wrested the puck away and sent it up the ice to Michel Ouellet, who parked it to give Canada a 2-0 lead.

"I don't even remember it (was him)," said Hilbert. "I was talking to him out there, he said he wasn't feeling too hot. I was going to stay away from him. I didn't want to hurt him, or anything. I didn't want to get sick. It was fun to play against him. It was too bad he was sick all weekend, but that shows what kind of kid he is."

The irony of the baby Bruin calling Hilbert, the veteran with three AHL All Star appearances on his resume, is part ofBergeron’s charm.

"Well I always call him a kid," he said. "He's young. Real young."