MONTREAL – The Montreal Impact announced on Monday that midfielder and team captain Patrice Bernier signed a new one-year contract with the club.
“We are very happy and proud to confirm that our captain will be back for another season,” said Impact president Joey Saputo. “There was never the shadow of a doubt that Patrice would stay with us, as he belongs to a category of players from Québec who will always have a place in our club. He is an example and a role model for all our players, on the field and outside of it as well.”
“I am very excited to be able to finish my playing career at home with the Impact,” added Bernier. “I am proud that this will be my 18th professional season, including nine with the Impact. For my last season, I will give everything for the club and the city, with a hope that we finish with the MLS Cup.”
“We're happy to have come to terms with Patrice for the 2017 season,” said Montreal Impact technical director Adam Braz. “It was important for us that Patrice finishes his career here, with our club. We’re also pleased to be able to integrate him as an Academy coach starting in 2018. He will be the eighth former Impact player to have such a role within the club, which demonstrates a very clear philosophy when it comes to the make-up of our technical staff.”
In five MLS seasons with the Impact, Bernier has played 124 games, including 92 starts, and 8,328 minutes, recording 13 goals and 21 assists. He is currently ranked first in MLS club history for games played, game-winning assists (10) and penalty-kick goals (10), second for starts and minutes of play, tied in second place for assists and fifth for goals. He reached 100 career games in MLS on October 3, 2015, in Orlando.
He has also recorded two goals and three assists in eight MLS Cup playoff games, all starts, and he tallied one assist in nine CONCACAF Champions League games, where he started three matches, helping the team reach the final against Mexican club América in 2015. He has also tallied one assist in 12 starts in the Amway Canadian Championship, winning the Voyageurs Cup in 2013 and 2014.
Named team captain prior to the 2014 season, he participated in the MLS All-Star game against A.S. Roma in 2013 and was named Impact MVP and Communitarian in 2012.
He is currently ranked fifth in club history with 197 regular season games played (MLS and second division), sixth with 162 starts and 14,773 minutes and 10th with 18 career goals.
On the international stage, Bernier has played a total of 53 games, including 38 starts, for the Canadian national team, taking part in the CONCACAF Gold Cup in 2005, 2007 and 2009, as well as in FIFA World Cup qualifiers in 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2014. He reached 50 career games with Canada on September 9, 2014, against Jamaica, in Toronto.
Transaction: Midfielder and team captain Patrice Bernier signed a new one-year contract with the Montreal Impact.
