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” blog series.
The vibes are really high right now.
There’s a lot of energy and everyone is really excited in this room. Down the stretch, you could see everyone just getting ready for the playoffs. We clinched a little bit early, so it's kind of just been playing the waiting game, and now we're finally here.
As one of the new guys, you can sense there’s a lot of unfinished business in this room after the run these guys went on last year. From the moment training camp started, you could tell with how hard the guys were working and the mentality they had. That was really contagious for all the new guys. It forced us all to just kind of step up and work just as hard as all of them.
All of us new guys just want to follow in those footsteps.
Even though today was our last practice before Game 1, it didn’t feel any different. I think that’s a good thing. We’re all going into this series with the Lightning like it’s business as usual. Everyone is itching to get going. We've put the work in and we're geared up for it.
It all starts tomorrow.
We know this series is going to be fun. I’m looking forward to seeing our fans being loud at Amerant Bank Arena. You always see that wild atmosphere on TV. I’ve was a Black Ace in Philadelphia for a couple playoff years, but this is completely different.
I’m just going to be taking it all in. We’re all going to be feeding off that energy and trying to build off it. That’s why it’s great to start off at home. There’s a lot of physicality and high-energy on both teams. We’re all looking forward to getting started.
At the end of the day, it’s a long season. When we step foot on that ice it’s all business, but we also have a good group in here when it comes to keeping it loose. That's imporant right now. I think Mo recentely talked about the “uniqueness” of the room. I agree with that. There’s no cliques in here. Everyone gets along. It’s a lot of fun to get to work with all these guys every day.
But there's more work to be done and we’re looking forward to making a deep run here.
See you at the arena,
Anthony Stolarz
*As told to FloridaPanthers.com's Jameson Olive
