Jonathan Bernier

Lore & Background

During his youth, Bernier played in the 2001 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with a minor ice hockey team from Laval, Quebec. His junior career was spent entirely with the Lewiston Maineiacs in the QMJHL. The first goal scored on him in the QMJHL was by his brother, Marc-André Bernier. Bernier was drafted by the Los Angeles Kings in the first round, 11th overall in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft but returned to Lewiston for the 2006–07 season, winning the President's Cup. He made his NHL debut on September 29, 2007, in the Kings' season opener against the Anaheim Ducks in London, earning his first win. He played four games that season before being sent back to Lewiston. After aging out of the QMJHL, he was sent to the Kings' AHL affiliate, the Manchester Monarchs, for the 2008–09 season. He played 54 games in his first full-time season, ending with a record of 23–24–4 and a .914 save percentage. The following season, he returned to Manchester as their starting goaltender, was selected for the 2010 AHL All-Star Game for Team Canada, and was recalled to the Kings in March 2010. He recorded his first career shutout against the Nashville Predators on March 30, 2010. Bernier spent the following three seasons as the backup goaltender for the Kings behind Jonathan Quick. In 2012, the Kings won the Stanley Cup; Bernier was an unused backup throughout the playoffs but his name was engraved on the Cup. He ended his stint with the Kings with a record of 29–18–6. On June 23, 2013, he was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs. In a pre-season game on September 22, 2013, he engaged in a goalie fight with Sabres goaltender Ryan Miller. He cemented himself as the starting goaltender during the 2013–14 season. In December 2014, he mistakenly described Nelson Mandela as 'one of the most known athletes in the world' at a charity event and later apologized. On July 8, 2016, he was traded to the Anaheim Ducks. He finished the 2016–17 regular season having played in 39 games, winning 21 of them, and recorded two shutouts. He made his first career playoff start in Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals against the Nashville Predators on May 22, 2017. On July 1, 2017, he signed a one-year, $2.75 million contract with the Colorado Avalanche. His 2017–18 season was riddled with injuries. On July 1, 2018, he signed a three-year, $9 million contract with the Detroit Red Wings. On

In Their Own Story

The Staples Center was a living thing that night. Twenty thousand voices pressed against the glass, the ice humming under the arena lights like a held breath. Bernier dropped into the crease, tape peeling slightly from his left pad, and the puck came in low, fast, off a skate blade. He didn't set his butterfly. He didn't track it with his eyes in the way the textbooks prescribe. He simply fell—sideways, almost lazy—and the puck kissed the inside of his glove pad, bounced off his hip, and rolled harmlessly into the corner of the net.

The crowd erupted. Not a roar. A *laugh*. A collective, bewildered, delighted laugh, because the save had no business working the way it did. Bernier popped up, looked at the puck, looked at the fans, and shrugged with both hands as if to say, 'Well, that's what I do.' The video would be replayed a thousand times. The clip would live forever in the group chats, the highlight reels, the 'remember when' stories of a city that finally, for one glorious June, believed in its hockey team.

He skated back to the bench, tapped his stick on the ice, and smiled. Quick was already warming up for the next period. But for those thirty seconds, the net was Bernier's, and the city was his.

Reader's Guide

Bernier represented Team Canada's under-18 team at the 2006 IIHF World U18 Championships in Sweden, where Canada finished fourth. He was invited to the 2007 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships selection camp but lost out to Carey Price and Leland Irving. He was chosen as one of Team Canada's goaltenders for the 2008 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships, held in the Czech Republic.

Did You Know?

• The first goal scored on Bernier in the QMJHL was by his brother, Marc-André Bernier.
• Bernier was an unused backup throughout the 2012 playoffs but his name was engraved on the Stanley Cup.
• On November 8, 2019, Bernier became the first Red Wings goalie to record two assists in a game since Jim Rutherford in 1979.
• Bernier mistakenly described Nelson Mandela as 'one of the most known athletes in the world' at a charity event in 2014 and later apologized.