Bernard leading P.E.I. playoff push
Veteran forward Jessyko Bernard is hoping to chart some new hockey territory this spring.
The 20-year-old P.E.I. Rocket winger has never before played a QMJHL playoff game.
In a unique situation, the 6-foot-2, 206-pound Bernard has sparked the Rocket to a record of 10-12-0-1 since his arrival to Charlottetown in early December, pulling the club back into contention for the league’s 16th and final playoff spot.
The last-place Rocket (17-33-2-2) currently trail Bernard’s former club, the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies, by two points in the standings, but hold a game in hand.
The Moncton-raised Bernard admits he badly wants to beat out his old team.
“I’d be the happiest guy in the world,” said Bernard of the potential scenario, following his club’s 5-0 loss at the hands of the league-leading Saint John Sea Dogs Saturday afternoon on Hockey Day in Canada.
In his four seasons in the league, Bernard has only been able to watch as former teammates have gone on to have playoff success in the Q. Now with his third team in four years, he’s hoping to also get that chance.
Bernard spent his first two seasons with the Halifax Mooseheads, after he was their fourth-round pick in 2008.
Struggling to find wins early in the season, the Rocket sent an eighth-round pick in 2014 to the Huskies for Bernard in an effort to shake things up.
“Both teams are kind of in the same situation right now,” Bernard said at the time. “But I believe everything happens for a reason.”
Since then, Bernard has scored eight goals and 13 assists in 23 games, picking up third star of the week honours earlier this month after a particularly hot stretch that included potting back-to-back game-winning goals versus the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles.
Head coach Gordie Dwyer called Bernard a “welcome addition.”
“He’s had good numbers over the last three or four seasons, and we just knew we needed to upgrade in that position,” said the first-year Rocket coach. “He’s a good kid and he’s a guy that has some experience, so he was a welcome addition for us.”
Bernard has spent the majority of his time with the Rocket skating on the top line with highly-skilled centre Ben Duffy and Czech sniper Matej Beran.
“He takes a little bit of pressure on them, and gives us some of that secondary scoring that we need,” said Dwyer. “When he’s playing physical and he’s going to the net and shooting the puck, he’s an effective player.”
The Rocket will need to bring their A-game into their next contest against Saint John Wednesday night at the Charlottetown Civic Centre.
The game is a potential first-round playoff matchup.
“They’ve got probably the most talented team in the Quebec league,” said Dwyer. “It’s a measuring stick for us, for sure.”
