What, him worry?

By now, Jonathan Bernier's calm demeanor has been well documented, so his reaction to his first NHL start shouldn't come as a surprise. I asked him about his initial feeling when Crawford told him he would be starting the season opener? Nervous? Excited?

``I wasn't nervous,'' Bernier said. ``I should have been. I don't know why I wasn't. I was just excited. It's always exciting to start a game in the NHL and I was pretty happy about it. It was a nice feeling. The guys played a great game in front of me and made me look better.''

That's no surprise, since Bernier stopped 26 shots in a 4-1 victory over the Ducks. Bernier knows that he's the subject of intense discussion but said he's not getting caught up in the hype, or worrying too much about what the Kings will do with him after nine games.

``Every game I play, I want to do well and give a chance to my teammates to win the game,'' Bernier said. ``My only hope for that (first) game was to go out and perform well. We were all talking about that game since the beginning of camp. We wanted to be strong at the start and we were able to do that.''

To clarify -- and thanks to reader David for pointing this out -- the Kings would burn a year of Bernier's entry-level contract if they keep him beyond nine games. That would mean he would be a restricted free agent in the summer of 2010. But in terms of becoming an unrestricted free agent, Bernier wouldn't gain a year unless he spends 39 games on the Kings' roster. So basically, game 10 gets him closer to restricted free agency, but he doesn't get closer to unrestricted free agency until he's been around for 39 games. I hope that makes sense...

Matt has some comments from Crawford about Bernier that he will be posting later.