Bernier quote

By Matthew Kredell on September 11, 2007 5:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) |

Goalie Jonathan Bernier practiced with the Kings for the first time Tuesday. He and defenseman Thomas Hickey played for Canada in the Canada-Russia Super Series over the past two weeks. They played a game in Vancouver on Sunday, woke up at 4 a.m. Monday, boarded a plane to Los Angeles and arrived in time to take physicals.

Bernier, who allowed one goal in two starts for Canada, said he felt like he was already in peak form entering training camp, and it showed with him getting glowing reviews from coach Marc Crawford for his first day.

``I know I didn't play many games but I had a lot of practice over there,'' Bernier said. ``We had a week in Moscow where we practiced two times a day. So I guess I'm in pretty good form right now. For sure I would have liked to participate in the prospect camp but I got some great experience.''

J.P. Hoornstra writes about NHL and IHL hockey for the Los Angeles Newspaper Group. He welcomes any and all dialogue on the finer points of hockey. E-mail J.P. at jp.hoornstra
@inlandnewspapers.com.

Jill Painter joined the Daily News in 2000 and during the last eight years she's covered the Dodgers, Cal State Northridge, UCLA, Kings, golf and everything in between. Even though she's from Colorado, she still freezes in the Staples Center press box but always manages to thaw her fingers in time to make deadline. E-mail Jill at jill.painter@dailynews
.com.