Cernak credited AHL Syracuse coach Benoit Groulx for agreeing to go out on the ice with him before practice when the defenceman was with the Crunch, a critical step in his grind towards the NHL. Groulx taught him «all the small details I have to do, add to my game. He was hard on me. Sometimes you don't like it, but that's the way you get better and get to your dream.»
He also confirmed one thing I'd heard: the Lightning thought they were vulnerable against the rush in 2023-24, and some of the changes made were to address that.