Fresh off signing a two-year contract extension yesterday, Maple Leafs goaltender Jonathan Bernier joined Bill Hayes and Jonas Siegel to reflect on his arbitration process, deciding between a one or two-year contract, and the significant changes Leafs management made this offseason.
If you were to tell another player what the arbitration process is like, what would you say?
It’s obviously an experience and it’s a process. Obviously, no one wants to go to that point, but that’s part of the business. They say things you probably don’t want to hear, but at the same time I think it makes you a stronger player and a stronger person after that.
How close was the deal before arbitration? Did the offer change significantly after the meeting?
No, it didn’t. I just had to make a tough decision on whether I go with the one year arbitration deal, or the same deal from before – the two years.
On why the second year was key:
You think about your family. It took me until Sunday, almost until 11, when I made my decision. There’s a lot of things you’ve got to consider, but at the end of the day I went with the comfort level. With a young child and my wife, I just want to make sure we’re secure. Obviously now I can just focus on hockey and not have to worry about, mid season, getting asked questions about contracts and things like that.
On the Leafs’ eventful offseason:
I think, with the past two years, they felt we weren’t going in the right direction, and I think they made the right call by changing the philosophy and changing the coaching staff. It’s sad it didn’t work out with the coaches we had, but I always believe that you start from the top and I think Shanny made some good moves so far with Mike and Lou. As players now, we’ve got to take more responsibility and work harder and show up every night.
On how coaches and managers can change the culture, drawing on examples from his time in LA:
The biggest thing is to obviously show up every day to practice like it’s a game day. There is no shortcuts. I think that’s what they want to bring up with the Leafs. There’s no break. The break is in the summer, and all year you’ve got to put that pedal at full throttle. The one thing Mike keeps saying is, we might lose games but it’s not going to be because we get outworked. I think that’s the mentality they want to have for all the players, all the coaches – everyone needs to work harder.
On whether that wasn’t happening in past seasons:
That might be above my payroll, but sometimes management might say some things to coaches where they’re not allowed to make changes – I’m just talking like this, but I really don’t know. Obviously when you have a contract like Mike’s, I think they really believe in him and how he can change a culture. He’s going to have a lot more say than maybe most coaches in the league.
On his initial conversations with Babcock:
It was actually good. It’s funny, but I was driving with my family and he probably talked more to my fiancée to me. Then he said, “I’ll give you a call back in the next few days.” That was our first conversation. After that, we spoke a few times, especially before I met Steve, the new goalie coach. We’re in contact back and forth to set everything up. He seems like he has a great plan, and in pressure moments sometimes you try to change the plan, but I don’t think they believe in that. I think they really want to stick to it, and I think that’s the best way to do it.
On whether he’s talked to other players about Babcock:
I actually didn’t really know too many players in Detroit, but you just hear from around the League and other players. So far, he’s just an honest, hard-working guy, and he has an answer for everything. I think we couldn’t ask for a better coach, that’s for sure.
On first impressions of Steve Briere:
My first thought was, obviously, [he’s] a really hard-working guy [with] a great focus on the plan that he wants to have all year. He showed me pretty much every practice; he’s already done the schedule for the full year, which is pretty impressive. He really seems like he wants to bring me to the next level, and that’s what I want. We seem to be on the same page. He’s kind of the same style as me too when he played. I think that’s important to understand that we’re on the same page for the way I play and my technical [side] and things like that. I’m really excited to have him on board.
On the reaction from him and his teammates when the team traded Phil Kessel:
You’re still always surprised, but we had a feeling that something big was going to happen. Obviously, when things don’t go well, it’s your best players sometimes that go. I known they want to go in a different direction with younger players and rebuild, so obviously we all knew there was going to be at least one big player that would leave. It’s not easy. Phil was an unbelievable player for the Leafs. When you get a player that scores consistently like that every year, it’s going to be tough to replace, but that’s the direction we need to go at the same time.
On whether he was surprised there weren’t more deals:
No. Obviously, I get that question a lot. You need to keep some players. You can’t just go with all young players. You need to keep some older guys. It doesn’t mean that, because you’re older, you can’t follow the coaches and the culture they want to have. It really doesn’t mean that. I think you’ve got to have a good balance, a good mix of young and older players.
On whether there were misconceptions with Kessel on the part of fans and media:
Phil’s an unbelievable player. He’s a great guy in the room. There’s really nothing to say that’s bad about Phil Kessel. He’s a tremendous teammate. Sometimes just having a camera in front of you for five minutes, it doesn’t mean it’s the person that you are. I think Phil would step up for guys and maybe that was why he was getting a little upset by the end of the year – we all saw where he tried to defend ‘Neuf and things like that. Phil’s a great guy.
On who is the best goalie in the League:
I think Carey. Since the Olympics, I think he really took a big step from the goalie he was. I think his confidence is the highest level it probably can be. To me, he’s probably the top goalie in the League.
On the importance of that confidence to be the best:
Confidence usually doesn’t come overnight, right? It’s something that you build, that you build with your teammates, with your coaches. You can tell that Carey feels really comfortable now in Montreal with the organization and his teammates and everything. That just comes with time. You can see now he’s really in a groove now and feeling good about himself.
