LAS VEGAS --Laurent Brossoit said he went from the lowest of lows to highest of highs in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Wearing all of his goalie equipment, Brossoit celebrated with the Vegas Golden Knights and got to lift the Stanley Cup after the they won it by defeating the Florida Panthers 9-3 in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final on Tuesday. It was a far cry from the image last month of Brossoit lying facedown in agonizing pain and being helped off the after sustaining a groin injury in Game 3 of the Western Conference Second Round that sidelined him for the rest of the playoffs.
"This is unbelievable," Brossoit said during the on-ice celebrations at T-Mobile Arena. "It's a dream come true. I know everybody says that, but it really is. It's an incredible feeling. Obviously, I wanted a bigger role, but contributing to something like this, I don't care. You never know if you're actually going to be able to hoist the Cup and it feels just as sweet."
Brossoit was the Golden Knights' starting goalie at the beginning of the playoffs. He helped Vegas to a five-game victory against his former team, the Winnipeg Jets, in the first round and started the second round against another former team, the Edmonton Oilers.
But on May 8, Brossoit was injured 11:44 into the first period when he stretched out attempting to stop a rebound after making a right-pad save against Oilers center Connor McDavid. Brossoit was replaced by Adin Hill, who started the remaining 14 games.
"It was a groin tear," Brossoit said. "It was tough to deal with for sure. At first we thought it was worse than it ended up being, so I'm happy about that, as long as I have another chance to do this again."
Brossoit, 30, completed his second season with the Golden Knights and can become an unrestricted free agent July 1.
"This is a special group of guys," Brossoit said. "Right from the get-go, you could see there are no egos here. I've never seen a group with so many top-notch, character guys, and that goes a long way. When everyone is willing to pull on the rope and not make it about themselves, this is the result you get."
Brossoit made his NHL debut with the Oilers in the 2014-2015 season, and his one postseason game prior to this season came with them in 2017.
Brossoit was selected by the Calgary Flames in the sixth round (No. 164) of the 2011 NHL Draft. The following season, he won a Western Hockey League championship with the Edmonton Oil Kings and played in the Memorial Cup. Brossoit was traded to the Oilers on Nov. 8, 2013, and played five seasons with them before signing with the Jets, playing three seasons (2018-2021) for them before signing with the Golden Knights.
Brossoit was one of five goalies to play for Vegas this season, along with Hill, Logan Thompson, Jonathan Quick and Jiri Patera. Brossoit was 7-0-3 with a 2.17 goals-against average and .927 save percentage in 11 games (10 starts) during the regular season. He missed the first four months of the season recovering from hip surgery.
"I think [general manager Kelly McCrimmon] sought out some good goalies, and the team has that structure that gives us a little bit of predictability (of shots)," Brossoit said. "The team plays so well, so consistently, is so deep, so structured, and whenever Adin, 'LT' were called upon when the boys weren't playing so well, they came up big. That's what you need. Those are momentum killers, and Adin, especially, through that stretch to win the Stanley Cup, he was phenomenal."
Brossoit was 5-2 with a 3.18 GAA and .894 save percentage in eight playoff games (all starts). Hill was 11-4 with a 2.17 GAA, .932 save percentage and two shutouts in 16 playoff games (14 starts).
"This does give you an appreciation of how hard it is to win the Stanley Cup," Brossoit said. "Considering how deep we are and how good Adin was, and how consistently we were getting production from all over the lineup, that's how good of a team you need to win this, and we had it."
