Bernier Watch Update.

Been a really interesting year for Bernier, some good days and some bad days. The life of a young goalie. It isn’t necessarily bad that everything isn’t smooth sailing for Bernier. In fact this could be a good thing, having him fight through some adversity before hitting the NHL ranks for more than 4 games.

For example on this past Saturday, The Lewiston Maineiacs took a dump and lost 7-1. Bernier let in 7 goals on 31 shots. Apparently the fans in Lewiston don’t have a freaking clue when it comes to goaltending by jeering and booing Bernier. If Patrick Roy himself let in 7 goals playing for the Avalanche, a year after winning the Lord Stanley Cup would the fans boo and jeer Roy? Maybe a moron or two would. Here is what Harding, the Lewiston Coach, had to say about Bernier being Jeered and Booed.-

“We have great fans, but I want those fans who were giving him mock cheers to come up and see me personally,” Harding said. “This boy has played fantastic for this organization. He’s given his heart and soul for this organization. He did not have a great night, OK, but instead of jeering him, maybe stand behind him and give him a cheer. He won a President’s Cup for our organization, and for these fans here. For him to get some mock cheers out there, that’s pretty classless.”

It was a rough night for the team and Bernier, but the good news is that they played a lot better the next night, though losing 3-2. They showed no quit.

My prediction stays the same, Bernier will certainly be starting more than 4 games next year with the Los Angeles Kings. My guess it’s somewhere around 20-30 games depending on how much he actually improves his game this summer. So far we have Cloutier, Labarbera, Jonathan Quick, and then there is the rising Daniel Taylor. Only one I see that has a better shot than Bernier, and that is Labarbera only because of the experience factor and will be the incumbent starter.