On Tuesday, Feb. 26, Steve Bernier started the morning like he had everyday during the hockey season for much of the past three years. Bernier, a right winger for the San Jose Sharks, left his hotel after playing the Columbus Blue Jackets, thinking that his job was safe as a third liner on a team basically guaranteed to make the playoffs. Little did he know, his life was about to change.
At 11:27 a.m., Bernier was traded to the Buffalo Sabres with a first round draft pick for defensemen Brian Campbell and a seventh round pick in this year's draft. Instead of living under the sun on the beaches of San Jose, the Quebec City native now resides in the snowdrifts of Buffalo.
Bernier, a 6-foot-2 power forward, scored 42 goals in 160 games with the Sharks. While not expecting the trade, Bernier, who earned the nickname "Big Bear" in San Jose, is now attempting to make the best of a transition.
"You don't expect (a trade), but you think about it," Bernier said. "Everybody in the room can get traded at any time...but you're not sure what's going to happen. You cannot control anything. The only you have to do is be ready and accept it."
According to reports, Bernier immediately left Columbus and headed to Buffalo after the trade was processed. Because of back-to-back games being played by the Sabres, he had no chance to go home to San Jose to get clothes or personal belongings.
Nonetheless, Bernier has adjusted nicely to living on the opposite side of the country.
"I love it so far," Bernier said. "It'd been nicer if we could've won the two games that we lost, but we got a good team and we'll try to forget those two losses."
Bernier has gone through a stream of emotions since arriving in Buffalo before last Wednesday's game against the Nashville Predators. Bernier made an instant impact in his first game as in the blue and gold, scoring Buffalo's first two goals of an 8-4 rout of the Predators. He also added an assist and several bone-crunching hits.
"It felt awesome. It was a big trade for both teams. For me, it was very special and it was very important for me to create chemistry between me and my teammates and the fans...it was only one game. I need to bring that every game. That's just going to be my goal until the rest of the season," Bernier said.
However, since his spectacular debut, Bernier has been in a funk that he needs to work himself out of, he said. His first game was played all on adrenaline. He has since crashed from the high of playing with a new team. He feels that, in order to right his wrongs, he needs to find chemistry with his new line mates.
"This is a tough part, but I think the toughest part right now for me is when you get traded you get a big push, a big push of energy, you want to prove yourself," Bernier said. "After a couple of days you get a big down, and I did not sleep good the last couple of nights because of it. That's the toughest thing I think, to make sure you play the same way for a period of time, that's going to be something that I have to learn pretty fast."
With the offense gaining a young star in Bernier, the defense now lacks the drive that Brian Campbell brought to the ice. While this might be a tough situation, defenseman Henrik Tallinder feels that, as a leader on the defense, he and his line mates will weather the storm.
"I know my role on this team," Tallinder said. "Me and Brian's role were a lot different. He was more of an offensive guy trying to create offense, while I am a defensive defensemen. I play against tough lines and have to take the defense first. If I can get into the rush, I will, but it's not going to be a focus."
Sabres center Paul Gaustad feels that, while Campbell was an asset, Bernier is just as valuable, but in an entirely different way.
"Obviously there's a good defenseman that was [playing] very well but we picked up a guy that's strong and can shoot the puck and can put the puck in the net," Gaustad said.
Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff acknowledges that while Bernier has not yet matched the success of his first game, that cannot be expected as Bernier is still just 22-years-old and will need time to adjust to his new team.
"I think that Steve has played fine, obviously he had a great first game," Ruff said. "But he's still adjusting. He's a young player who is still adjusting and I love what he does with the puck when he gets down low, you've got to give him a little bit of time to gain some confidence with his teammates, and I think he's going to be one heck of a player."
The regular season is quickly winding down and the Sabres find themselves fighting for one of the final few playoff spots available. Bernier plans on helping lead the Sabres to their third consecutive playoff appearance by digging back into his roots.
"I just want to do what I used to do all the time, and that's to put the puck deep, create space, get in front of the net, and try to score some goals," Bernier said.
At the end of the day, Bernier realizes that Buffalo is an entirely different team from San Jose. The teams are in different positions and have different strengths and weaknesses; they both share one thing - the game of hockey.
"Hockey is the same thing everywhere you play, you just have to play the game. That's it," Bernier said.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
