In time, in the fantasies of Randy Carlyle and Dave Nonis and Toronto Maple Leafs fans everywhere, Jonathan Bernier may end up being the No.1 goalie in the world.
Remember?
That was how Carlyle couched his rather tepid support of James Reimer in the hours after his club famously blew a 4-1 third period lead over the Boston Bruins in Game 7 of the opening round of the playoffs.
The Leafs coach — who had his own sins to answer for as the game, series and season began unravelling that night in Boston just over a month ago — was asked if he had confidence in Reimer going forward as his No. 1 goalie.
Hmmm, kind of, was the answer:
“We’re not any different than any other hockey club,” Carlyle said. “If you had a chance to get the best goaltender in the world, what would you do?”
Nonis — the Leafs general manager and the man who pulled the trigger on the trade to acquire Bernier, a 24-year-old career backup to this point with the Los Angeles Kings — although one with considerable pedigree, was a little more convincing in his support of Reimer.
“At this point he’d be back as our No. 1 goalie,” Nonis said. “He did a very good job for us … when we needed quality goaltending James was very good.”
Not excellent. Not outstanding. Not the best.
Just very good.
Can Bernier be better than very good? Can he be good enough that Carlyle will one day say he’s the best in the world?
The answer is at least a season away and probably longer than that.
But in the short-term the Maple Leafs and the rest of Leafs Nation are going to find out exactly what it takes to piss off James Reimer.
Until now it’s seemed like one of those things that just can’t be done; a safe that can’t be cracked. He didn’t really get upset when the Leafs kept taking sidelong glances at Roberto Luongo. He took it mostly in stride when his bosses tried to work out a deal to bring Miikka Kiprusoff in from the Calgary Flames to shore up the crease heading into the playoffs.
Reimer and smile have always gone together like ice cream and cone or rock and roll.
The big Mennonite kid from Morweena has always been the epitome of “happy to be here” since arriving in the Leafs crease in the 2010-11 season.
Not only because his rise to the starting job with the Toronto Maple Leafs was like something out of another age — a career arc that the late Scott Young would have dreamed up were he still writing classic kids hockey books like A Boy at Leafs Camp.
But also because Reimer simply couldn’t seem to stop smiling. It wasn’t just that he was happy to be in the NHL, it was that Reimer seemed happy to be anywhere. He genuinely seemed — happy.
It was very ungoalie-like, but as long as he was stopping basically 92 per cent of the pucks shot his way — which is what he managed in his first and third seasons with the Leafs — it was a wonderful part of his remarkable story.
He is deeply religious but has never been the slightest bit preachy about it. Instead he’s always demonstrated his faith merely by being grateful, and happy.
He called his rise from playing church league shinny in tiny Morweena, Man., to starting for the Toronto Maple Leafs a miracle. He was drafted by the Red Deer Rebels of the WHL on the basis of being scouted in a single game, one that his team lost in a blowout.
“We lost 6-0 but they must have had 700 shots,” Reimer said a few years ago. “The scouts had no idea who I was, they’d never heard of me before, but one guy saw me play that game and drafted me. Just based on the one game.”
But Reimer’s smile has been tested in Toronto.
Even as he was playing some of his best hockey this season there was something about how he was playing it that never seemed to satisfy his bosses. The Leafs were constantly linked to Luongo. Leading up to the trade deadline, even as he was playing some of the best hockey of his short career the Leafs were maneuvering to acquire the Flames veteran Kiprusoff.
Reimer showed some frustration then.
“Honestly, it’s a distraction,” he said as the speculation was peaking. “I think it’s a huge distraction.”
But even then he wasn’t scowling. Once the crease was his for good he responded by playing even better, posting a .930 save percentage in 11 games after the trade deadline passed.
He followed up with a more than respectable playoff performance, though even his .923 save percentage against the mighty Boston Bruins wasn’t apparently enough.
There’s his glove hand, you see, and that rebound control.
And now there’s Bernier, a younger goalie who was the 11th overall pick in 2006. He’s been tabbed a star forever, except he couldn’t beat out Jonathan Quick in Los Angeles. Now he’s here to try to beat out Reimer.
This being Toronto, there’s always something. One of these days it might be enough to make Reimer forget to smile, but don’t be surprised if it’s not enough for him to have the last laugh.