Train(er) of Thought: Firebirds’ Brett Bernstein

As head athletic trainer for American Hockey League affiliate Coachella Valley, Brett Bernstein is right in the thick of things. He wouldn’t have it any other way. He and assistant trainer Justin Broy form a valuable conduit as Kraken prospects start their professional careers and also work with veteran Firebirds players who are potential NHL call-ups at any point during the season. 

In his role of overseeing game-readiness of Firebirds players, injury prevention and injury recovery, Bernstein is in detailed and frequent communication with Kraken head athletic trainer Justin Rogers.  

“We talk weekly at the absolute least during the season,” said Bernstein in an extended conversation last spring in Palm Desert, CA. “We have an organizational medical report that goes out weekly. We discuss that and often have follow-up calls. Justin's great. I can pick up the phone or shoot him a text [with a question or update on Firebirds players]. With as much as he has going on, I will still get a response in  less than an hour. Our collaboration has been exceptional. That's not as common and usual as one might think throughout the NHL and the AHL.” 

The regular exchanges with Rogers bolstered Bernstein and Broy during the busy 2025-26 season. The Kraken head trainer advises on injury rehab plans with contributions from Bernstein. It was common that several Firebirds players were on the injured list each month of the year.  

That adds a significant layer of work and effort as CVF trainers are equally committed to keeping players in the lineup via treatments (targeted massage, joint manipulation, physical therapy), sleep recovery strategies, and nutrition guidelines. It all requires planning and a highly organized approach.

Handling the Day-to-Day, Week-to-Week 

“We have benchmarks every day and every week [during training camp, regular season and playoffs] that are pretty much set in stone based on what we built out,” said Bernstein. “For example, Justin Broy and I meet first every morning before the players get here on non-game days. Dan [Franceschetti, head strength and conditioning coach] then will come in after Justin and I meet. The three of us discuss what we expect to see from the players that day, both from medical and strength perspectives. We let Dan know what he can expect about any modifications or limitations.” 

Depending on how many individual injury rehab programs are ongoing, Broy will handle “a lot of our rehab programming,” but Bernstein makes the effort to split up the work, especially when the injured list is more crowded.  

“If Justin does two rehab programs, I will do the next one,” said Bernstein. “If he has three, then I will cover two others. Whichever of us programs a player’s rehab works directly with the player. When there’s a little bit lighter rehab injury report, he’s probably going to be more hands-on, while I am probably a little bit more behind the computer to catch up on my organizational work.   

The trainers’ rehab work conforms to the practice and meeting plans of Firebirds head coach Derek Laxdal and his coaching staff: “We're doing treatment with the guys before practices and after practices. We guide them not just with what we can do in person, but what they can do on their own. They can follow up on mobility and soft tissue work.”

From ‘Challenging’ First Season to ‘Hard’ Year Four 

Bernstein is an original member of the Firebirds training staff, hired ahead of the 2022-23 inaugural season for the AHL’s 32nd franchise. For different reasons, he said it is difficult to say whether the first season or last season was toughest.  

“The most challenging year I’ve had as an athletic trainer was our first year,” said Bernstein, referring to Acrisure Arena still being finalized and not hosting a game until mid-December after the team’s opening with two road games, four “home” matchups in Seattle and Everett and then an additional 16-game road trip.  

“I mean, to not have a home, a permanent home, to be in a small space that was half gym, half athletic training setup for months -- what made it, well, not easier, a little less challenging, is we had a veteran group focused on being game-ready. 

“What makes this year [2025-26] harder in a certain way and very different is not just a matter of evaluating and treating and managing and rehabbing multiple injuries and illnesses. It was also guiding habits [with an influx of draft-choices-turned AHL rookies]. It's a lot of teaching.” 

Speaking late in the regular season, which ended in another impressive divisional finish and a deep run in the Calder Cup Playoffs, Bernstein was animated about the task of being head trainer for a team with the youngest average age in the AHL.   

“It reminded me of what the profession is all about,” said Bernstein. “You work with [older] athletes that are so comfortable and so familiar with themselves, how their body feels, how their body's supposed to be. This [past] year we compared what worked in the past season versus right now. This [year] is about using everything that I've learned. But you can't just throw it all at once [to the younger pros].  Instead, it’s building a lot of stuff from the ground up.”

Learning From High School to Michigan State to NFL to AHL 

For his part, Bernstein’s own education as an athletic trainer started with his own elbow injury as a high school baseball catcher. The discomfort prompted a visit to an orthopedic surgeon to determine the extent of the injury. As it turned out, surgery was not necessary, but the physician’s diagnosis made a lasting impression. 

“The doctor didn't even have any imaging yet,” said Bernstein, still marveling at the memory. “He just moved my elbow and said, ‘You have a mild to moderate strain of your UCL [ulnar collateral ligament]. You need a few weeks of rest and some exercises, then you'll be fine.’ 

“My mom and I looked at each other and asked, ‘Don't we need some imaging?’ The doctor said, ‘Oh, yeah, we’ll get an MRI, but I already know.’ I was blown away by that ... I was trying out for a summer team when I got hurt. At the time, it was embarrassing-- ‘Oh, you're the guy that got hurt during a tryout.’ Now I look back and I'm glad that it happened.” 

That’s because Bernstein took a strong interest in sports medicine from there. At first, he was thinking about a career as an orthopedic surgeon when starting studies at Michigan State.  

“I realized I couldn’t handle biology all too well because I'm not really interested in plants and fish and mammals, just humans,” said Bernstein, who explored other majors as an underclassman and eventually worked as a student trainer with legendary men’s hockey head trainer Dave Carrier. “Then an anatomy professor told me about athletic training, and it was the marriage of everything that I wanted.”  

Before Coachella Valley, Bernstein gained experience with the NFL Los Angeles Chargers as a seasonal intern when the team and league were returning after the Covid-19 epidemic along with one season as an assistant trainer with the AHL San Diego Gulls. He soaked up knowledge and wisdom from mentors at each stop.   

One concept instilled in Bernstein is now vital to his building relationships with Firebirds players: “The more time you spend around an athletic training room, physical therapy clinic or doctor's office, the more you notice that when players walk in, the clinician says, ‘Hey, how are you doing today?’ The players immediately respond with how their injury is or how their body's feeling. My mentors said, ‘Just stop them right there.’ The clinician didn't ask you about the injury or how your body feels. The clinician asked you how you're doing as a person. That is a really big key for how I've attempted to build this department and how we connect with our players.”