02-27-2019, 03:15 AM
TORONTO – Among the many stars, fleeting paparazzi and widespread shimmer of the Hollywood scene was sheer anonymity for the former backup goaltender of the Los Angeles Kings. Jonathan Bernier was but a blip on the glitzy California radar, but now in his first season in Toronto, he finds himself squarely in the spotlight. One half of the Leafs standout goaltending tandem, the 25-year-old has raced out to a quick start with the new opportunity, posting a .933 save percentage in his first 10 games. Born 30 minutes outside of Montreal in nearby Laval, Quebec, Bernier knows a thing or two about the intensity and pressures of a furious hockey market. Speaking to the Leaf Report on Thursday afternoon, he detailed his adjustment to life in the spotlight, life with a new team and goalie coach, and starting on a regular basis. What follows is an edited transcript of that conversation. LR: Im wondering what the difference is off the ice in coming to Toronto. Youre coming from a place in L.A. where its not the same intensity as here. Whats that been like, that process of coming to a hockey market per se? BERNIER: Its definitely an adjustment because in L.A., youd be out on the street and no one knows who you are. Even the greatest players, [Anze] Kopitar and Dustin Brown, theyll maybe get recognized once in a while. [But] here, you have a good game, next day you go out for breakfast or whatever and everyones happy for you. People are very respectful and thats the one thing I found right away is theyll come and say congrats or good game, but theyre very respectful and thats a great thing. LR: Did the first time it happened catch you off guard? BERNIER: I heard about it [before I came here]; guys told me about it. And obviously coming from a big city like Montreal as well, I knew how [their players] deal with the fans outside the rink so I was expecting that a little bit. LR: So just going back to L.A., you could go out to dinner and walk down the street and just nothing? BERNIER: Nothing. Id say after the Cup [in 2012], people kind of knew who we were [in the area] where we lived, but if wed go downtown or Hollywood, theres no chance. LR: So whats the strangest thing that someones said to you here? BERNIER: I havent got any good stories yet (laughs). LR: Do you like the change? BERNIER: Yeah, its a good change. I think it keeps you focused on hockey. You dont want to have a bad game because then the next day, youre going to hear about it (laughs). LR: You understand the market in Montreal, how do you think the two are similar? BERNIER: I think theyre very similar. The [cities are] both supporting the team. I think for me though speaking French and being in Montreal, I think itd be a lot harder just because you have two sessions of media pretty much (laughs). LR: When a player comes to this kind of market, what are the adjustments required just to be ready for that kind of stuff? BERNIER: I found there is pressure, but pressure, you put that on yourself. If you dont really focus on whats going on on TV and radio and internet, I dont find [that it adds pressure]. Maybe [thats] because right now were having success – we have a good record – but maybe if it would be the opposite, maybe Id say a different thing. But so far I havent found that its that hard. Like I said, you just put pressure on yourself so its all about how much pressure you want to put on you. LR: Well, I would imagine it doesnt really change your focus. Your focus would have to be the same regardless. BERNIER: Yeah, exactly. I think even in L.A., among the guys, we were putting that much pressure on ourselves and the GM and coaches. Its kind of the same way here. We try to stay away from the media pressure and just focus on ourselves and our team and just make sure were ready every game. LR: You told me last week about the focus thats required mentally playing more often. Has it helped? Does it help you be a better goalie when you know youre playing more often? BERNIER: You mean from the pressure? LR: No, just in terms of your preparation in being ready to play. I would imagine in some situations in L.A., its difficult when you go a couple weeks and you havent played and youve got to get back in there and play well. Has it been like you thought it would be? BERNIER: I think its easier mentally just because the reason is youre happy and you dont get off into negative thoughts and things like that. So I think if you stay positive and just keep working hard, then youre having fun. I think as a hockey player or any sport, if youre having fun, usually youll have success. I think that was the thing in L.A.; sometimes I was getting frustrated in not playing. But at the same time, here, its fun. We have a great group of guys, were winning right now and its a big snowball. LR: And I can imagine the worst thing is if you had an off-night and you dont get to start for a while its just got to burn you? BERNIER: Yeah. And thats something that I had to learn my first year is not to worry about the result of the game, more focusing on my game. Because then you start worrying if you dont win, then youre not going to play for another two, three weeks and you have to think about that loss. I think I got better [at that] as the years went along. That was something I was really focusing on was just focusing on myself and not the result. LR: Has there been any adjustment working with a different goalie coach? Has he changed things? BERNIER: No. Rick [St. Croix] is really good. Hell just try to give me some tools, but at the same time, its not something that hes going to say you have to do this. Hes just going to let me know hey if you want to do this in a game or in practice, work on that and if you feel comfortable do it. But the one thing I really like is I think he watched a lot of video and probably heard about my style and he adjusted to that. He knows when I feel comfortable with my depth and things like that. Obviously its still new, but were starting to get a good chemistry between him and I. LR: So is that your depth in the net? BERNIER: That was just an example. It can be how I played the puck, make quicker decisions or things like that. But I can tell that he watched video and saw when I was on my game what I was doing right. LR: And thats what James [Reimer] told me, I remember last year, that Ricks not the kind of guy whos going to say you have to do this, hes going to look at what you do and say we can do this. BERNIER: Exactly. 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Hugo Ayala Jersey . -- Packers cornerback Tramon Williams has been fined $26,250 for contact with an official, per NFL guidelines. NEW YORK -- Olli Jokinens third-period outburst for the Winnipeg Jets put any talk of a New York Rangers goalie controversy to rest. Not that there was much of one to begin with. Jokinen scored the go-ahead and insurance goals against rookie Cam Talbot and pushed the Jets to a 5-2 victory over New York on Monday night. By the time Blake Wheeler put a puck into an empty net in the final minute, Talbot was on the bench mulling his second NHL loss. "I thought I felt all right, still not where I wanted to be," said Talbot, who made 25 saves in his second straight start over Henrik Lundqvist. "Four goals is not going to cut it. I cant expect the guys to go and score five goals for me every night." Up until this one, three was plenty for Talbot to win. He already has two shutouts to his credit and he hadnt allowed more than two goals in his first seven starts -- a Rangers record. Jokinen broke a 2-2 tie with 7:18 left and scored again 5:24 later. The former Rangers forward, who also assisted on Devin Setoguchis tying goal in the second period, gathered the puck after a strange carom and fired it in. "Their guy just kind of rimmed it back behind the net," Talbot said. "I think it hit his skate right behind and ricocheted off and went out front. It actually did hit my stick, but it ended up right back at front. "Thats my fault. Ive got to put it right back to the corner," he added. Jokinen then squeezed his sixth of the season between Talbots pads to make it 4-2 with 1:54 left. Talbot had won six straight starts, including a victory Saturday over Vancouver in his Madison Square Garden debut when he made a career-best 35 saves. John Albert also scored in his NHL debut for Winnipeg, which got 35 saves from Ondrej Pavelec in the fourth-game of its season-high, six-game road trip (3-1). "This was a really great win," Jokinen said. "We played another solid road game. Im very glad to get the two goals and see Albert get his first goal on his first shot. "I was telling him about a guy back home who scored on his first seven shots, so hes got a ways to go," he said. Mats Zuccarello and Ryan Callahan had goals for New York (14-14). Rangers coach Alain Vigneault wouldnt reveal who the goalie would be Thursday at Buffalo. After that, New York will begin a nine-game homestand. The Rangers, 4-3 in their laast seven, havent been more than one over .dddddddddddd500 this season. "Were definitely not getting the traction that I know we want," Vigneault said. "The only way were going to get traction and get better is by playing more consistent hockey. Is this team a .500 hockey club? Were certainly playing like one." After the Jets took a 2-1 lead in the second, Callahan got the Rangers back even with his seventh, scored with 4:10 left in the second. Winnipeg turned the tide in the opening seven minutes of the period when the Jets outshot the Rangers 6-1, and that total didnt include drives by defencemen Dustin Byfuglien and Jacob Trouba, who hit the crossbar and right post, respectively, five minutes apart. The Jets then found the range. Setoguchi took a pass from Jokinen and snapped a shot that sailed between the legs of New York defenceman Michael Del Zotto and past Talbot. Byfuglien then intercepted a pass by Derick Brassard and sent a stretch pass to Albert for a breakaway. Albert moved in on Talbot and wristed a rising drive that nestled into the top left corner at 10:00. "Obviously, he didnt make the same amount of saves that he had done in the past," Vigneault said of Talbot, "but we certainly made his life challenging by how we played in front of him." Albert, recalled by the Jets on Sunday, flashed a wide grin as he received a series of high-fives from teammates as he skated in front of the bench. The puck -- it sat in his dressing room stall -- will go to his parents who live outside of Cleveland. "That was the greatest feeling Ive ever experienced," Albert said. "Especially to score at a key moment of the game the way I did. And to score my first goal at Madison Square Garden was extra special." The Rangers got the jump on the Jets, grabbing a 1-0 lead just 2:49 in on Zuccarellos fourth goal of the season. New York was helped by a blatant turnover by defenceman Keaton Ellerby. The puck came right to defenceman Ryan McDonagh, who fired a slap shot from inside the blue line at the left point that was deflected in by Zuccarello. NOTES: The Rangers fell to 12-3 when McDonagh has a point. ... The Jets won two of three from the Rangers last season. ... Setoguchi, Chris Thorburn and Trouba all had two points for Winnipeg. ... Rangers LW Rick Nash had a three-game goal streak snapped. ' ' '