Ex-Leaf goalies land on their feet
Bernier heats up in Denver, Reimer clicks in Florida, Scrivens earns Olympic nod
It’s not often that three former Leaf goalies make headlines in one week, but that was the case for James Reimer, Jonathan Bernier and Ben Scrivens, all of whom had something to celebrate over the past several days.
Bernier capped an almost spotless week when he was named the NHL’s second star of the week, turning in a 3-0 record for the red-hot Colorado Avalanche.
Reimer suffered a trio of losses to open the new year for the Florida Panthers, but remains one of the NHL’s hottest goalies over the past month. And then there’s Scrivens, who slipped out of the NHL and into the KHL after his Leafs stint ended 2013 but wound up in a position a lot of NHLers would envy — on his way to the Olympics as part of the Canadian men’s team.
“I’m happy to hear that, and happy to see it,” Leafs centre Nazem Kadri said of the trio’s success as the Leafs prepared to face the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday night. “They were great teammates here, and when they leave town you wish them the best wherever they go.”
Kadri is one of the Leafs with enough tenure in a Toronto jersey to remember those mercurial times when those goalies saw duty between 2010 and 2016. Reimer, in particular, became a fan favourite, spending 10 years in Toronto from the time the Leafs drafted him in 2006 until he was traded in a purge of holdover players in February 2016.
Reimer’s Leaf career approached some noteworthy records, even though he played just 207 games. Only five Leaf goalies played more than Reimer’s six seasons: Turk Broda, Johnny Bower, Allan Bester, Felix Potvin and John Ross Roach.
Reimer would have increased his games played total considerably had it not been for injuries; he still ranks 10th in games played by a Leaf goalie, three shy of Bruce Gamble in ninth.
Reimer’s 85-76-23 record in Toronto, including a .914 save percentage, ranked around the NHL average for that time. He’s made some headlines with the Panthers, posting shutouts in two of the last three games of 2017 before dropping three decisions to start the new year.
Bernier, meanwhile, who has landed in Anaheim last season after three seasons in Toronto, took his second star status this past week for helping Colorado to a five-game winning streak, its longest run since December 2015. One of those wins last week was a shutout, the 16th of Bernier’s career, and he has wins in five of his last six appearances.
With Reimer battling injuries and Bernier inconsistency, neither truly held the No. 1 status in Toronto for very long.
Bernier was brought in from the Los Angeles Kings in a trade that was regarded as a steal at the time (the Leafs sent Matt Frattin and Scrivens to the Kings), but he remained in a competition with Reimer over his three seasons with the Leafs.
“They were always laughing with each other. They were supporting each other . . . and it came at a time when no one was sure who was No.1,” Kadri said. “They were always looking over their shoulder too, not being sure of their future in Toronto, but they always supported each other and tried to do their best at the same time. You respect guys like that.”
Leafs winger James van Riemsdyk recalled the Leafs’ exit from the 2012-13 playoffs against Boston, where Reimer was in goal for one of the most infamous playoff exits in Leafs history. That failure doesn’t diminish the value of Reimer’s contribution in van Riemsdyk’s mind.
“I don’t think we gave either of them (Reimer or Bernier) much support when they were here. We were a run-and-gun team, high-octane offence, and they didn’t get much support defensively,” van Riemsdyk said.
“I guess we had only one playoff series then (against Boston) and yeah, it didn’t turn out the way we wanted, but I remember those guys, and just making the playoffs how exciting it was.”