Is Bernier an elite goaltender?

[ottawa]

He's about as an elite of an athlete as Mandela is.

...so, no. Elite goaltenders for me are Rinne, Lundqvist, Price, Quick and Rask, and maybe one of Varlamov or Lehtonen. It's a short list.

 

[Maffew]

Solid goalie, love Bernier, but he just needs to work on consistency. Right now I'd say list all the goalies that are always in the top goalie conversation, then Bernier gets into the group right below that.

 

[Paradoc]

well thats great but thats not what you said haha

I did get the three seasons part . I thought it included the season he broke out with LA, but I guess it was before that.

 

[Paradoc]

He's about as an elite of an athlete as Mandela is.

...so, no. Elite goaltenders for me are Rinne, Lundqvist, Price, Quick and Rask, and maybe one of Varlamov or Lehtonen. It's a short list.

Curious as to why you think Varlamov and Lethonen maybe elite?

 

[londonHK]

He's about as an elite of an athlete as Mandela is.

...so, no. Elite goaltenders for me are Rinne, Lundqvist, Price, Quick and Rask, and maybe one of Varlamov or Lehtonen. It's a short list.

These Mandela jokes were already old on Sunday morning. I don't mind people poking fun at Bernier for the Mandela thing (as it's pretty embarrassing) but I've literally read these same jokes several times before in the last week...

As for the OP - no, Bernier is not elite at this point in his career, and I say this as a Bernier fan. Could he be elite one day? Possibly, but we have to see a lot more of him than we've seen so far to even go anywhere near that word.

 

[KaseMeOutside]

HfBoards is very ironic. In almost every thread you'll see "The Leafs suck, they just rely on elite goaltending to win games".

Yet, no one considers Bernier a top goaltender when they're constructing their goaltending lists. So which is it, either Bernier (or Reimer) is elite, or the Leafs simply aren't relying on elite goaltending as much as the other teams...

If the defence is as bad as HfBoards claims, and the team is horrific. Why isn't Bernier an elite goaltender for doing what he does with that team in front of him?

Are you implying the leafs are an elite team?

 

[Lebowski]

These Mandela jokes were already old on Sunday morning. I don't mind people poking fun at Bernier for the Mandela thing (as it's pretty embarrassing) but I've literally read these same jokes several times before in the last week...

As for the OP - no, Bernier is not elite at this point in his career, and I say this as a Bernier fan. Could he be elite one day? Possibly, but we have to see a lot more of him than we've seen so far to even go anywhere near that word.

These jokes won't get old for as long as Bernier is alive.

It will follow him for the rest of his life.

 

[Trottier]

Why isn't Bernier an elite goaltender for doing what he does with that team in front of him?

Because then what exactly are J. Quick and H. Lundqvist, for starters?

Accolades should not be tossed around casually like nickels. Around here, unfortunately, they often are.

Stop being so easily impressed. Impressionable, that is.

 

[ottawa]

Curious as to why you think Varlamov and Lethonen maybe elite?

Lehtonen more so than the other, because he generally plays 50-65 games a season and puts up decent numbers, and like the habs and Price, he's been subject to weak defense for the most part of his career and his team had to rely on him more than necessary.

Varlamov i'm on the fence, he's kind of inconsistent for me but when he's on his game he's definitely elite, granted I have limited viewing of him so I may be wrong about him.

 

[TheGreat]

He played 90 games in the last three season according to this site.

http://www.quanthockey.com/nhl/seasons/last-3-nhl-seasons-goalies-stats.html

oo i see what you meant , 90 games in the last three seasons together right ??

I think most ppl here , want to see if can Bernier can play 60+ games in a single season before they will call elite.

As for me , he's playing great but allows a lot bad goals in his career in TO , so i am not labeling him elite yet

 

[ShooterMikgaven]

A tier below, but I expect him to be considered a bonafide elite starter within 2 years

 

[X66]

He's well on his way.

 

[Bouboumaster]

I hate the Leafs, and I don't think that he's elite, right now (The only "elite goalies", IMO, would be Lunqdvist, Price, Rask, Rinne and Quick, in no order)

That said, he's pretty good, I would put him probably in the top 10, and he has the potential to come near the top.

 

[HarrisonFord]

Your own logic is flaweed and Rinne wasn't close to being elite last year.

I'm giving him a pass last season considering his hip surgery/infection

 

[Bougieman]

These Mandela jokes were already old on Sunday morning. I don't mind people poking fun at Bernier for the Mandela thing (as it's pretty embarrassing) but I've literally read these same jokes several times before in the last week...

If I had to listen to Kyle Wellwood "wellfed" jokes for nearly 4 years on this board, you guys can handle a few weeks of Bernier "Mandella" cracks.

 

[Kamiccolo]

I think we can all agree Bernier had an elite season last year. He faced the most shots in franchise history, stood on his head all season with great stats before his injury in the last two weeks.

The discussion was then "Can he do it again, if yes, then I will call him elite, if no, then he was a one trick pony". This was the consensus on HF. Now, people are saying to wait and see again? We have enough data to look at by now.

The question is, how is he doing this year?

16th in wins (considering he has split games with Reimer, pretty good, however can also be a knock at him. I think he gets 50+ games this year, which will go a long way to prove he can be an elite starter for the leafs)

Top 10 in Sv% of goalies who played over 20 games

in 16th place for best GAA (considering the shots he gets, pretty good)

He is in 12th for shots against

So right now he is playing in the range of 5-15 of goalies in the NHL right now.

Clearly a starter, but he is not top 5, and therefore not elite. However, he clearly has the potential, and I would argue on a sound defensive team he would be elite as his stats would increase. Let's not pretend other goalies don't get that benefit, some win the Vezina for it..

 

[jeangauthier]

short answer..........NO.....

 

[londonHK]

If I had to listen to Kyle Wellwood "wellfed" jokes for nearly 4 years on this board, you guys can handle a few weeks of Bernier "Mandella" cracks.

Who's "you guys"? I'm not a Leafs fan, if that's what you were getting at...

 

[Kamiccolo]

He's about as an elite of an athlete as Mandela is.

...so, no. Elite goaltenders for me are Rinne, Lundqvist, Price, Quick and Rask, and maybe one of Varlamov or Lehtonen. It's a short list.

No way are Varlly or Lehtonen (espesially after the year he is having) elite.

Lundqvist is playing terrible this year.

Rinne yes, but benefits from a strong defensive team.

Price, yes, but has comparable numbers to Bernier, and it's safe to say Montreal has better defense than Toronto.

Quick sucks in the regular season (well is average) and had 1 elite playoff and another good one.

All I'm saying is people like to cling to players and teams as being elite, when the truth is teams and players have at most 3-4 years of dominance on average before coming closer to average.

YEs there are exceptions, but especially with goalies, I think Bernier is close to the best of those guys. Put Bernier behind Nashvilles defense and he can do what Rinne does IMO.

 

[darkbrew*]

no chance

 

[darkbrew*]

if bernier is elite fleury is elite. so no

 

[ottawa]

No way are Varlly or Lehtonen (espesially after the year he is having) elite.

Lundqvist is playing terrible this year.

Rinne yes, but benefits from a strong defensive team.

Price, yes, but has comparable numbers to Bernier, and it's safe to say Montreal has better defense than Toronto.

Quick sucks in the regular season (well is average) and had 1 elite playoff and another good one.

All I'm saying is people like to cling to players and teams as being elite, when the truth is teams and players have at most 3-4 years of dominance on average before coming closer to average.

YEs there are exceptions, but especially with goalies, I think Bernier is close to the best of those guys. Put Bernier behind Nashvilles defense and he can do what Rinne does IMO.

That's the problem, you're not looking past this season (30 games at that)

 

[zombi]

YEs there are exceptions, but especially with goalies, I think Bernier is close to the best of those guys. Put Bernier behind Nashvilles defense and he can do what Rinne does IMO.

So wait...you think Bernier is on the same level as Quick, Price, Rinne, and Lundqvist?

 

[Kamiccolo]

So wait...you think Bernier is on the same level as Quick, Price, Rinne, and Lundqvist?

I don't get what's funny?

Price and Bernier have comparable numbers the last two years (this and last) and Montreal has better defense and is considered a better team.

Quick has been very average outside of his outstanding playoff run.

Lundqvist has a slow start this year and is playing bad, but I won't say Bernier is better than him unless Lundy continues to play so sub par for the rest of the year.

Rinne is a great goalie, but plays behind a strong defense, probably the strongest in the NHL. I'm just saying Bernier could put up comparable numbers there.

 

[ARoggy94]

So wait...you think Bernier is on the same level as Quick, Price, Rinne, and Lundqvist?

http://www.puckalytics.com/goaliestats.html

Play with this website a little bit before you put Quick on the same level as Price, Rinne, and Lundqvist