Throughout the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs, Florida Panthers goaltender Anthony Stolarz will provide fans with an inside look on the team’s run with his new “Stolie’s Standpoint” series.
This third entry comes on the eve of Game 1 of the second round against the Boston Bruins.
It’s exciting that we’re finally getting to start Round 2.
We’re obviously familiar with both Toronto and Boston, but at the end of the day of the day we were always going to have the same mentality moving forward no matter the opponent.
I remember watching the first-round series between the Panthers and Bruins last season. I knew Muzzy (Josh Mahura) from my time with the Ducks and Radko (Gudas) and (Alex) Lyon from the Flyers. I had a lot of buddies I wanted to keep track of, so I ended up watching a lot of the run this team went on.
I know they were down 3-1 and it was a big upset, but when you get here and get to spend some time in this room you realize it shouldn’t have been a shock. This team works so hard and has such an incredible mentality. Everyone sticks up for each other. It’s a tight group.
The way we play, it’s so hard and it’s so defensive that it kind of mimics playoff hockey day in, day out. Credit to the guys that have been able to play that style for the entire year. It’s not an easy thing to do, but the results speak for themselves going back to last season.
Looking back on our first-round series win over the Lightning, it was a blast. It was my first real playoff experience. The crowd in Amerant Bank Arena was unbelievable. Listening to the fans going crazy got us going. In Game 5, watching those final few goals go in felt amazing.
You can feel the difference between regular a season and playoffs. It’s not a big difference, but I think the room is just a little more tense. But like I mentioned earlier, the way we play is always the same. We’ve got so many good leaders in this group. It’s been a fun ride so far.
While we waited for Toronto and Boston to finish up, this sort of break between rounds was great. We’re very fortunate to live in such a beautiful city. I mean, it’s 85 degrees out right now. There were a couple of days there where you’re able to go outside and get in the sun a bit, get away from hockey. I think it was a good mental break as well. We had a big break, but the last couple days of practice have been tough and hard as we gear back up for it.
With today being the day before a game, you kind of start to get into it again and it’s a little more up-tempo. I think everyone has been eager to get Round 2 started. Now that we’re a day away from Game 1, today’s practice was good and we’re looking forward to tomorrow.
We’re all excited to get going and have our eyes on the big prize here.
Once the puck drops again, it’s all business.
Looking forward to seeing the crowd buzzing,
Anthony Stolarz
*As told to FloridaPanthers.com's Jameson Olive
