Bernier ready for `battle’

All six goalies in Kings camp — Jonathan Bernier, Jean-Francois Berube, Erik Ersberg, Martin Jones, Jonathan Quick and Jeff Zatkoff — are well regarded by coaches and management, so there’s no shortage of competition among the players. It is presumed that Quick has the inside edge on the No. 1 job, based on his play last season, but Bernier will get a long look.

“I don’t think anybody really knows what’s coming up,” Bernier said. “We’re in a big battle right now, and the best one is going to get the net.”

Bernier reiterated what he told me during the summer, which was that last season, while personally difficult, was a good learning experience for him.

“Last year was probably the hardest year of my career,” Bernier said, “but I learned a lot. I had a lot of ups and downs but I think it was really helpful.

“I think it was more (tough) mentally. I don’t think it was physically. I got hurt early in camp (last year) and I was pretty upset. I thought I would get in a (preseason) game or two, and then I was disappointed when I got sent down. When Quick got called up, I was disappointed, but I just had to battle through it.”

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