Bernier gone, but not for long . . . Hopefully

Jonathan Bernier left Thursday’s game against the Kings after the first period with a “lower body injury”, opening the door for James Reimer to produce a gym, leading the Leafs to victory. 

Since the Leafs label every injury as either an upper or lower body injury, we don’t know what Bernier’s injury is yet. And we may never know. But fear not, because his injury isn’t considered to be serious, at least according to coach Randy Carlyle.

That may just be damage control by Toronto’s forever-vague coach, but considering Bernier was on the bench to finish the game and no news of anything severe has come out yet, it looks like the Leafs dodged a bullet. 

Carlyle said Bernier is still feeling the effects of the injury from Thursday, but that he doesn’t think it’s severe and “you’d always like to make sure that you are making the right decisions.” 

According to rotoworld, Bernier is expected to undergo an MRI to reveal the extent of his injury. One thing we do know is that Bernier will not be available to play in Sunday’s matinee against the Capitals, and Drew MacIntyre will back up Reimer after being called up from the Marlies.

All the Reimer haters out there, cool your jets. He may be forced to start a few games in a row – or maybe more if Bernier’s injury is more serious than initially thought – but he’s more than capable of getting the job done. He may not be the superstar that Bernier has seemingly turned into, but he’s proven before that he’s able to carry the load.

Still, if Bernier’s injury is serious, it might cause some problems in Toronto. Bernier seems to have a calming presence over the whole team – something that isn’t exhibited when Reimer and his sporadic style occupy the net.

At this juncture, let’s just hope Carlyle is right and Bernier’s injury isn’t serious.