It appears that whatever remaining confidence Mike Babcock had in Jonathan Bernier evaporated after a 5-4 overtime loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday night, as the Leafs coach offered a succinct observation about the goaltender’s performance at the club’s practice facility on Wednesday.
“I just think the puck is going in (on Bernier), so Sparks will start.… Babcock said. “I thought we had a really good plan in sending him down and giving him an opportunity to have success, unfortunately it didn’t go the way he wanted when he got right back.…
Bernier was not sharp in his first game back from a 10-day AHL conditioning stint, making 22 saves and showing little change from the goalie that went 0-8-1 and lost the starting job to James Reimer.
The Leafs netminder allowed Nikita Kucherov’s opening goal less than three minutes into the opening period, a late goal from former Leaf Anton Stralman in the final minute of the middle frame, a pair of goals from Mike Blunden and Jonathan Marchessault within 36 seconds to give Tampa the lead in the third and Vladislav Namestnikov’s end-to-end game-winner 2:01 into overtime.
Reimer departed from practice early as a precautionary measure after working with Leafs goalie coach Steve Briere on Tuesday and not ready to return after re-aggravating a groin injury in Minnesota on December 3rd.
*******
The Maple Leafs confirmed on Tuesday what had been widely reported over the last two weeks, that prospect William Nylander will be allowed to join Team Sweden for the upcoming IIHF World Junior Championships in Helsinki.
Nylander leads the AHL with 33 points and will play in Binghamton on Wednesday and Wilkes Barre on Friday before departing for Europe.
Toronto could have five players participating in the tournament. Nylander and Kasperi Kapanen will have big roles for Sweden and Finland, 2015 top pick Mitch Marner is expected to be a top line winger for Team Canada, while 2015 draft choices Travis Dermott and Dmytro Timashov are likely to survive Canada and Sweden’s roster cut downs prior to December 26.
*******
The Air Canada Center is expected to be a popular destination between now and the February 29th trade deadline, as many on the Maple Leafs roster could be available for the right price.
Brian Burke, Brad Treliving, and Todd Woodcraft on the Flames were at the TBL-TOR game. Credit to @JPoldrugovac pic.twitter.com/nUxi4EmNMI
— Steve Dangle Glynn (@Steve_Dangle) December 16, 2015Calgary Flames Team Preisdent Brian Burke and GM Brad Treliving were in attendance at the Leafs-Lightning game on Tuesday and their presence fueled speculation of potential interest in goalie Jonathan Bernier.
Sportsnet’s Luke Fox reports that the Flames could have interest in Leafs goalie Jonathan Bernier, who with the overtime loss to Tampa is 0-8-2 on the season and may be in need of a change of scenery.
The Flames goaltending tandem of Jonas Hiller and Karri Ramo is struggling and young goalie Joni Ortio not ready to take on the starting job. Calgary is on a six-game winning streak that has them tied for third in the Pacific, but their management may not feel they can succeed with the current situation in goal.
Bernier is under contract for another year at $4.15 Million and there are some who believe that it will be difficult for him to turn things around in Toronto under Babcock, who appears to have lost confidence in the netminder.
Hiller and Ramo are unrestricted free agents and the Flames are likely to move on from both after this season, but may think that Bernier can turn things around with a change of scenery and that his trade value is at his absolute lowest.
*******If you are interested in sponsorship or advertising your business in the Greater Toronto / Southern Ontario area on this column, please send a message for more information by clicking on the “Contact… button at the top of the page.*******
Note : Continue to check back to my column on Hockeybuzz throughout the day for the latest Leafs updates or Follow @mikeinbuffalo on Twitter
KINDLE USERS: Please sign up for Maple Leafs Buzz, which includes a free-of-charge 14-day trial and is just 99 cents per month afterwards. For more information click here.