Jonathan Bernier - Player Discussion 2016

[Beaninfritz]

Only reason why the leafs are even this close to the bottom of the standings is that he was brutal in october and november.

The team was also quite brutal during those months too. In hindsight, Reimer might have one some of those games the way he was playing, but coaching and management obviously felt more confident with Bernier. That's why he always had the tougher assignments.

While he was guilty for averaging one soft goal per game during that stretch, the defense in front of him was often downright atrocious. I can't recall how many times they left him high and dry.

IMO, it was a lack of confidence between both groups.

"Bernier let in another soft one, great...." sighed the d-men

"Thanks for making a bad play, and leaving a shooter alone right in front of me, again...." sighed Bernier

Remember, it was Reimer's job to lose when Bernier joined the team. Sure Bernier had a bad stretch with a new team, new coach, new system, etc. Reimer also had a bad stretch with an arguably better team (talent wise), and we were in position to make the playoffs.

Unless management can make a blockbuster trade for a true top netminder, I'd expect to see Bernier being the starter again next season. Possibly even extended for another couple of seasons, so they can test the water with their own prospect pool.

I mean, Chris Osgood has won 3 stanley cups. He wasn't a bad goalie, but not top 10 material. Yet he found success because the team and system in front of him, made life easier on him by not making one boneheaded play after the next.

 

[NCoRe]

Yes i know the consistency issues with him and that theres not too much pressure with him atm, but still.... Am I the only one who still has some genuine belief that he can be #1 with us. I know that I've been a Bernier fan from the Kings days but still..

 

[saltming]

Yes i know the consistency issues with him and that theres not too much pressure with him atm, but still.... Am I the only one who still has some genuine belief that he can be #1 with us. I know that I've been a Bernier fan from the Kings days but still..

No I still have hope, slim but its there.
For him to comeback from that horrible stretch he had is impressive.
I also think he was not 100% from those groin issues, he didn't trust his body yet. Since the conditioning stint his lateral movement has been amazing.

 

[NCoRe]

I've been most impressed about his calmness in the net after new year. Calm and confident even after conceding

 

[Suntouchable13]

Run with him next season. There is no pressure to win yet. Or are the Leafs way past that? They know what they have in him, and they don't want him?

 

[saltming]

Run with him next season. There is no pressure to win yet. Or are the Leafs way past that? They know what they have in him, and they don't want him?

Conjecture.
We don't know what they fel about him. After his last game babcock said he is playing like we know he can. That sounds like they think he is a good goalie.
We will know by the tdl what they think of him. Right now all we have to go on is what they say about him.

 

[saltming]

I've been most impressed about his calmness in the net after new year. Calm and confident even after conceding

That is his calling card. I remember that a few posters hated his calmness calling him apathetic. Haha

 

[sxvnert]

Done enough in 2016 to earn another 40 game look next season.

 

[Mad Brills*]

I think he's done enough that if the team doesn't get value for him this offseason, he'll be back.

 

[hamzarocks]

What would you all give him as a grade for this year. Consider him playing with a new coach and strucure, the horrible defense and team in front of him for majority of the season, and also his own weak performances at times. Overall I would give him a C+ on the year. He has done really good since TD deal and has had some strong moments. He let's in awkward goals at times that shouldn't go in. Showed great mental strength coming back from the ahl and biding his time until the opportunity came for him to get games. A bit disappointing considering we thought he could be a top 10 goalie when playing at top level, but he hs an year left to go prove his worth not only to us nut to teams around the league l. Is he a legit starter who can player 50+ games or is he a 1b who plays 30 games

 

[Mad Brills*]

C as a grade.

Awful 2015, good 2016.

 

[saltming]

What would you all give him as a grade for this year. Consider him playing with a new coach and strucure, the horrible defense and team in front of him for majority of the season, and also his own weak performances at times. Overall I would give him a C+ on the year. He has done really good since TD deal and has had some strong moments. He let's in awkward goals at times that shouldn't go in. Showed great mental strength coming back from the ahl and biding his time until the opportunity came for him to get games. A bit disappointing considering we thought he could be a top 10 goalie when playing at top level, but he hs an year left to go prove his worth not only to us nut to teams around the league l. Is he a legit starter who can player 50+ games or is he a 1b who plays 30 games

Agreed on your grading. I would add he did play 55 and58 games for us witha .920 and.912 sv% so the question is longevity and sustainability.

 

[kihei]

I'd stay with him for another year. I mean, is there much of an alternative? Drafting and developing one takes forever, but maybe we should nab a prospect as we have time. But I don't see the logic of paying for an upgrade until we have decided what our goals for next year are. Given what's out there, who knows, Bernier may be the best option short term.

 

[saltming]

I'd stay with him for another year. I mean, is there much of an alternative? Drafting and developing one takes forever, but maybe we should nab a prospect as we have time. But I don't see the logic of paying for an upgrade until we have decided what our goals for next year are. Given what's out there, who knows, Bernier may be the best option short term.

Imo this makes sense.
If we draft a goalie now it will be 3-4 years before he is pushing for the nhl, never mind being a starter.
We are not planning on being a contender net year so no rush. Perhaps the year after there is expansion and we steal a goalie from someone. If there is no expansion, that year we should be looking to be a buble team and we will know exactly what we have with jb.
The year after maybe our prospect comes up and backs up, maybe even takes the job?
All said I don't see why we should spend assest at this time in the rebuid. I would be ok with trading expendable assets to get some goalie prospects that are a bit more developed. But then that speeds up the time line only b a year or 2.

 

[Tak7]

Bernier drove the tank for most of the year.

Lol at people who are giving him a passing grade. He was god awful - couldn't stop a puck the first half of the season, and then gave up bad goals like it was fashionable during the second half of the season.

Just what this team needed? Absolutely, in terms of the tank.

Worthy of bringing him back next season? Absolutely not. He's a dud

 

[Kiwi]

Bernier drove the tank for most of the year.

Lol at people who are giving him a passing grade. He was god awful - couldn't stop a puck the first half of the season, and then gave up bad goals like it was fashionable during the second half of the season.

Just what this team needed? Absolutely, in terms of the tank.

Worthy of bringing him back next season? Absolutely not. He's a dud

What do you mean the guy has a 920 sv% in 7 of the last 8 games
We currently are not playing the guy because he is going to well and giving us to much chance of winning games
He is signed next year we may as well run with him with the expansion draft around the corner
We are in the middle of a rebuild hoarding assets should be our only priority not using them to chase a goaltender
I don't see any scenario where we make the playoffs next year playing so many kids so getting a solid backup and reevaluating at the TDL next year is the best option imo

 

[TMLegend]

He'll probably be back next season. Closes out the year with a .908SV% and 2.88 GAA.

Tale of two seasons for him though.

October-December =.889SV%
Janurary-April = .920SV%.

 

[Parkdale]

Bernier has shown he has the skills but not necessarily the mentality to be a 1st string goalie going forward. Who knows if he will develop the mental game to be able to play well with some pressure. He is signed for the next year, so it make sense to bring him back for next season, but the Leafs surely will be looking around.

 

[A1LeafNation]

He'll probably be back next season. Closes out the year with a .908SV% and 2.88 GAA.

Tale of two seasons for him though.

October-December =.889SV%
Janurary-April = .920SV%.

New system under Babcock adjustments. Give him until the trade deadline and see what happens.

 

[Unhealthy Scratch]

New system under Babcock adjustments. Give him until the trade deadline and see what happens.

Goalies just go on bad runs sometimes, even good goalies. Rask had a similar stretch early this season when his save percentage was sub-.900 and his team was losing games because they couldn't get a save. The same thing has happened with Reimer at various times over the past couple of years.

 

[AJRAYMOND]

You can set your watch with Leaf fans blaming the goalies for the teams lack of success. Blaming Reimer for the Bruins playoff collapse when the truth is if it wasn't for him it would of been 4 straight that year. You can blame Bernier but the truth is the team is just awful leaving him hanging out to dry. I remember a couple of years ago I watched Vesa Toskla stop 5 breakaways in the second period only to allow a cheap goal to go through his arm to lose the game with two minutes left in the third. For that they said what a useless goalie. If I'm Bernier and can get the hell out of there I do it. Just look at Reimer and what happened when he got on to a half decent team. It's going to pay off in buckets for James. Maybe the same can happen for Jon.

 

[ACC1224]

You can set your watch with Leaf fans blaming the goalies for the teams lack of success. Blaming Reimer for the Bruins playoff collapse when the truth is if it wasn't for him it would of been 4 straight that year. You can blame Bernier but the truth is the team is just awful leaving him hanging out to dry. I remember a couple of years ago I watched Vesa Toskla stop 5 breakaways in the second period only to allow a cheap goal to go through his arm to lose the game with two minutes left in the third. For that they said what a useless goalie. If I'm Bernier and can get the hell out of there I do it. Just look at Reimer and what happened when he got on to a half decent team. It's going to pay off in buckets for James. Maybe the same can happen for Jon.

Whatever happened to Toskala?

 

[Nithoniniel]

That is his calling card. I remember that a few posters hated his calmness calling him apathetic. Haha

I think that was just misdirected. He had a period where he played extremely passive, he often didn't even try to find the puck when someone was screening him. I think that was pissed people off, but I'm not so sure it's about his calmness.

You can set your watch with Leaf fans blaming the goalies for the teams lack of success. Blaming Reimer for the Bruins playoff collapse when the truth is if it wasn't for him it would of been 4 straight that year. You can blame Bernier but the truth is the team is just awful leaving him hanging out to dry. I remember a couple of years ago I watched Vesa Toskla stop 5 breakaways in the second period only to allow a cheap goal to go through his arm to lose the game with two minutes left in the third. For that they said what a useless goalie. If I'm Bernier and can get the hell out of there I do it. Just look at Reimer and what happened when he got on to a half decent team. It's going to pay off in buckets for James. Maybe the same can happen for Jon.

What has happened is that he's had a great stretch of games, just like he's had here at times. Let's calm our horses on drawing conclusions yet.

You are absolutely right otherwise though. We went through the Carlyle time being the worst team in the league in limiting quality chances, far worse than even a team like Edmonton, yet all you heard after every loss was how one or the other goalie was crap. They never were.

Over the last few years, the only really crappy goaltending we've seen was in the beginning of the year with Bernier, and now with Sparksy towards the end.

 

[Zybalto]

I think that was just misdirected. He had a period where he played extremely passive, he often didn't even try to find the puck when someone was screening him. I think that was pissed people off, but I'm not so sure it's about his calmness.



What has happened is that he's had a great stretch of games, just like he's had here at times. Let's calm our horses on drawing conclusions yet.

You are absolutely right otherwise though. We went through the Carlyle time being the worst team in the league in limiting quality chances, far worse than even a team like Edmonton, yet all you heard after every loss was how one or the other goalie was crap. They never were.

Over the last few years, the only really crappy goaltending we've seen was in the beginning of the year with Bernier, and now with Sparksy towards the end.

Yup....and Sparks is a very green rookie while Bernier's sample size for his bad start was what? 10 games!?!?

I dont think people remember that Bernier and Reimer gave us easily the best keepers we have had in a decade. After Bernier came back from the AHL, he was a top 10 NHL goalie the rest of the way. Thats a good thing whether or not we trade him.

Every keeper has bad stretches so I wasnt worried but what bothers me more about Bernier (and did about Reimer as well) is the ability to play out a season as a #1 without breaking down. Thats what was holding back their abilities to solidify a #1 spot, not the occasional bad spell.