Pierre Lebrun’s Thursday segment on Leafs Lunch touched on the Jonathan Bernier situation, as well as an interesting quote from an anonymous Leafs player on a key difference under coach Mike Babcock this year.
You can listen to the full segment here.
On the Jonathan Bernier situation:
I’m glad Bernier accepted the conditioning assignment. I think that part has sort of been underplayed. As part of the CBA, a player doesn’t have to do it. He really could’ve made this more awkward if possible; more uncomfortable. A player has to buy into a conditioning assignment. Imagine if he said no?
It’s interesting – I traded emails with Bill Ranford earlier this week. I was curious to see what he thought about all this. When the Kings traded Bernier to Toronto, I can tell you that Bill Ranford and Dean Lombardi and a number of people in that Kings front office — who I think you guys believe have a clue about how to win — they were sick to their stomach trading Jonathan Bernier. To hear Ranford this week – he was careful in what he said because it isn’t his player anymore – he was surprised at what is going on and he absolutely believes Bernier will resurface and bounce back. Listen, they honestly believed that Bernier would be a number-one goalie. The only reason Dean Lombardi traded him is because he promised Jonathan Bernier he would because they couldn’t keep him under the cap with Jonathan Quick signed long term. I’m just saying – maybe they were wrong in their judgment of Bernier, but those guys have done a lot of talent evaluation over the last several years for the Kings. My question is this: What’s happened between then and now? Certainly, what’s happened between then and now is that Bernier, for the first time, has had the challenge of being the number one and it hasn’t gone his way. Number two, there’s been a lot of coaching chances already since Bernier’s been here. There’s been a lot of bad hockey. But more than anything I just think he’s completely lost his confidence. It’s ground zero, and he has to rebuild it now.
Mike Babcock was asked specifically about Devan Dubnyk earlier this week, when the Oilers were in town, by Edmonton columnist Jim Matheson. I thought it was an interesting question. Of course, the Oilers ran Dubnyk out of town. They thought he was done. They gave up on him, and thought he couldn’t play anymore, and I think we know the rest of the story once Arizona got their hands on him, rebuilt him, and then flipped him to Minnesota. He saved the Wild’s season last year. I think patience is required here. Jonathan Bernier is 27. First of all, why is everyone in such a hurry to decide whether or not Bernier has a future with the Leafs? It’s not like the Leafs are really thinking about the playoffs this year. Just be blunt about the situation here – they’ve got all the time in the world to figure this out. This is a lost year. This is about development; this is about the future. There is no better year where you can come back and try Bernier when the time is right, because why does it matter? The points in the standings do not matter for this team this year.
This is a really, really bad comparison, but it’s just because I was there so I’ll bring it up. I remember in my early days with the Canadian Press I did more than just hockey; I did whatever was asked of me, and I happened to be covering the Blue Jays one year believe it or not. It was the year that a young Roy Halladay was shut down and sent back to single-A to rebuild his delivery. I just remember him being so emotional about it. He was completely lost mentally. People were wondering about his future. I’m just saying – this is Roy Halladay we’re talking about. This happens to some athletes, where you know there is potentially greatness there, or at least in Bernier’s case I think he can be a very good goalie, but it’s between the ears right now I think.
He’s kept up a pretty good attitude throughout all this. The other thing too – remember who his coach is. Mike Babcock did something similar – different circumstances, different player – with Chris Osgood; at one point during those Cup years, he was lost. I don’t know if you guys remember this story. They not only sat Osgood, they literally sent him home. He went for a little vacation to clear his mind. I’m pretty sure that this was brought up between Babcock and Bernier at some point. Babcock has dealt with this type of situation before, and when Osgood returned from that s’jour he was very good. Obviously, the difference is Osgood had proven a lot more at that point in his career – he was a veteran. He was just a veteran that needed a bit of a break.
Babcock has not shied away from controversial goalie decisions. This is the guy — at his first Olympics at home in Vancouver in 2010 – who decided to bench the all-time winningest goalie in NHL history in the middle of the Olympics after one loss, and go to Roberto Luongo and take out Marty Brodeur. When you remember those types of decisions with Mike Babcock, I don’t think the little Leafs situation here is going to be too stressful for him.
On accountability under Babcock:
I had a comment from a Leafs player about a month ago. We were chatting off the record, but I don’t mind sharing this part. He said, “you know the difference between this year and last year? I feel like everyone is being treated equally. That no one is getting special favours.” He goes, “when you do that, you get a much bigger buy in from the whole group.” That was his comment, and that is what Babcock is doing. Now, I will say this: It’s obviously easier to do when Phil Kessel is gone. That’s not a shot at Kessel, but that was really the elephant in the room – that your most talented player shows up at camp overweight, and what are you going to do about it? Frankly, I would’ve paid to have seen Mike Babcock handle that this year. It would’ve been fun.
Again, let’s be fair. When you have an eight-year contract, you have the mandate to make a decision without fearing, like many coaches around the league do, about what it means to your own future. I mean, stability financially and stability in term, and stability in your reputation — that has a lot to do with what a coach is willing to do in this league and what a coach isn’t.
