Bruins' Bergeron played all season with sports hernia

The Boston Bruins' top center fought through a serious malady all season long.

Patrice Bergeron revealed he was playing with a sports hernia throughout the 2016-17 campaign and may require surgery, according to Amalie Benjamin of NHL.com.

A sports hernia, per OrthoInfo, is "a painful, soft-tissue injury that occurs in the groin area that most often occurs during sports that require sudden changes of direction or intense twisting movements."

Bergeron was still able to appear in 79 regular-season games - earning a Selke Trophy nomination as one of the best two-way forwards in the NHL - but the hernia may explain why he recorded only 12 points from October until the end of December.

In six playoff games, Bergeron scored two goals and added two assists while logging almost 23 minutes a night.