LOS ANGELES – You couldn't avoid Steve Bernier in these playoffs. He was in your face, crashing into your body, forechecking with purpose, playing with passion.
By Jayne Kamin-Oncea, US Presswire
Steve Bernier of the New Jersey Devils (18) boards Rob Scuderi of the Los Angeles Kings in the first period of Game 6.
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You couldn't avoid him in the New Jersey Devils locker room, either, after his five-minute major penalty all but decided the deciding game in the Stanley Cup Final.
He stood tall. He didn't hide. He took questions and, willingly but a bit uncomfortably, offered answers.
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He didn't blame the refs. He didn't blame anyone. He said it was just hockey — fast, sometimes unpredictable, and stuff happens.
And sometimes you just can't stop the pain.
"I'm not out there trying to hurt my team," he said. "To know the other team is out there scoring goals, and it's because of my penalty, that's very, very tough."
Yes, Monday night was tough for Bernier, a 6-3, 220-pound right wing whose role is to lead the Devils' forecheck and try to stir up some offense.
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That was what he was doing midway through the first period when he rammed into Kings defenseman Rob Scuderi from behind. Scuderi was sent crashing into the boards and came up bleeding. Bernier was given a five-minute major for boarding and an automatic ejection.
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He left the ice, and that was the last hockey action he saw Monday night.
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"I didn't watch the game," he said. "I just stayed in here (the locker room). I listened to the crowd. It was hard."
And loud.
The first loud cheer came soon after his departure. 1-0. Then another two minutes later. 2-0. Then another two minutes after that. 3-0. And that, basically, was that. The final was 6-1. But that stretch when the Kings scored three goals during one five-minute penalty sealed the Devils' fate.
At some point, Bernier did look at a replay of the hit on Scuderi. Did he deserve a five-minute penalty?
"From my point of view, I don't," he said. "You want to have a strong forecheck. You need to finish your hit. That's exactly what I did, and I got five minutes for it.
"It's a fast game. There are hits all over the ice. It's tough to stop when you're going that fast. But it ends up being a bad play."
His teammates filed in after the first period, down 3-0, and consoled him.
"In his position, you're going to feel like it's your fault, but it's not," captain Zach Parise said.
Defenseman Bryce Salvador called Bernier's penalty "a non-issue. Really, that's just hockey. It happens. Everything happens fast."
Said wing David Clarkson, "No finger-pointing, at the refs, at anybody."
Calling a major penalty was a bit unusual for a game of this magnitude, but malicious checking from behind is an element of the game NHL decision-makers have been trying to eliminate.
Asked his opinion of the call, Devils coach Peter DeBoer declined to comment: "Tonight is about L.A. and letting them celebrate. … Ask me about that in about a week, I'll give you my honest opinion on it."
Asked about his feeling for Bernier, DeBoer said, "It's a bad spot for him to be in. Everybody knows Bernie's heart is in the right place. He's not at fault."
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