NOTEBOOK: Bobrovsky Has 'Great Practice' in Return to Camp

In today's Baptist Health Practice Notebook, Sergei Bobrovsky feels great have returning to practice, the 2020-21 NHL season kicks off tonight, and the Panthers finalize their roster.
SUNRISE, Fla. -Sergei Bobrovsky wasted no time in getting back into the swing of things.
Returning to the ice after spending more than a week on the team's "unfit to play" list, the Florida Panthers goaltender was a full participant during Wednesday's practice at BB&T Center, looking no worse for wear while running through drill after drill at full speed with his teammates.

"It's definitely great to be back with the guys to start working, see the puck and be around my teammates," said Bobrovsky, who was on the ice about 20 minutes before practice officially began. "It's great to be back. I felt good. I just need a few more practices and I'm ready to go."
Diving headfirst into his first day of training camp, the 32-year-old veteran rarely relinquished the net during practice, facing a healthy serving of shots in a wide variety of situations for about an hour and a half in order to give himself a good preliminary assessment of where his game is at.
Whenever he took a breather, he'd work on his fundamentals with goalie coach Robb Tallas.
"It's important to feel the net, to feel the ice, to feel the gear on your body, to see the puck and see the traffic," Bobrovsky said. "It was a great practice. We had all the different aspects. I saw the straight shots, I saw the 3-on-2 in the zone stuff, all different kinds of activity in front of me. It was great. I also worked a little bit extra on fundamental stuff. It was a great practice for me."

A presence on the ice and in the locker room, Bobrovsky's return also delighted teammates.
"It was great to see him," said Panthers forward Alex Wennberg. "Obviously, you see him in the locker room as well, and he always comes in with a smile on his face. It's good to have him back. It's good to score some goals on him again and get him ready for the season."
With the Panthers scheduled to open their season on Sunday against the Chicago Blackhawks in Sunrise, it remains to be seen whether or not Bobrovsky will be ready to go in time to man the crease. If he's unable to, likely either Chris Driedger or Sam Montembeault would get in the nod. It's important to note, however, that Bobrovsky isn't as cold as we'd think.
Prior to landing on the "unfit to play" list, he'd been skating for two months with a handful of his teammates at the Panthers IceDen. For that reason, his recent absence should be looked at as more of hitting a bump in the road rather than a derailment of his usual preseason preparations.
"I had the good feelings and was working hard before," Bobrovsky said.
While the rest of his teammates enjoy a well-deserved day off on Thursday, Bobrovsky plans to get in another practice as he works to shake off any rust that might have accumulated during his downtime - a roughly two-week period in which he said he really only did some minor workouts.
Taking a wait-and-see approach, Panthers coach Joel Quenneville said he was impressed with Bobrovsky during his first day back on the ice and isn't ruling out him starting on Opening Night.
"Good to see him back," Quenneville said. "He felt fine out there, did a lot of drills. He took almost every shot in his end. He had a good workday. We'll see how he comes in tomorrow and presents and talk with our goalie group. I think we've got an opportunity there where he'll dictate to us over the next few days whether Sunday's an option or not."
For the Panthers, a bounce-back season from Bobrovsky will be key to their playoff hopes.
After joining the organization on a seven-year deal last offseason, the Novokuznetsk, Russia native posted a 23-19-6 record with a 3.23 goals-against average, .900 save percentage and one shutout over 50 appearances. Settling into a groove later in the season, he went 3-2-1 with a .921 save percentage over his final six starts before an injury knocked him out of the lineup.
In the Stanley Cup Qualifiers, he posted a .900 save percentage over four starts.
"I thought he adapted well to moving forward with what needs to be addressed or worked on," Quenneville said of Bobrovsky. "With Tallas and the goalies, I think he did a good job of getting himself in the right place mentally and physically. A little setback here, but I think he's more than excited to get the season going and doing what he has to do. He's approached it the right way."
Back at work, the only thing Bobrovsky's thinking about is the next game on the schedule.
"You go one day at a time, one game at a time," Bobrovsky said. "The most important game for us is Chicago on Sunday. All the guys are preparing for this game. We're looking forward to getting out, competing as hard as we can and hopefully getting two points and moving on."

PUCK DROP

Quenneville plans to spend a lot of time on the couch tonight.
After nearly fourth months since the Tampa Bay Lightning hoisted the Stanley Cup, the 2020-21 NHL season will officially - and finally - get underway this evening, starting with a heated rivalry matchup between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers at 5:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN.
"I love watching hockey games, especially right off the bat," Quenneville said. "The first day is big games, important games as well. They usually get a lot of rivalries to begin the season on opening night… Kind of like in the bubble, it's almost like all we did was watch hockey games."
Unlike past seasons, Quenneville said his viewing focus will be narrowed.
With the Panthers competing against only seven teams -- the Carolina Hurricanes, Dallas Stars, Columbus Blue Jackets, Nashville Predators, Detroit Red Wings, Chicago Blackhawks, and Lightning -- during the regular season, there's far fewer teams he has to keep a close eye on.
"This year's a little different," Quenneville said. "Where [in the past] you'd be focused on the whole league, now you're more focused on divisional games. That's where it is right now."
That being said, the Central Division matchup between the Lightning and Blackhawks at 8 p.m. ET on NBCSN will likely be the game that the Panthers keep the closest eye on this evening.
"Divisional games will be the priority," Quenneville said. "We still like to flip channels if there's 2-3 games going on at once. It's almost like there's no commercials allowed."

ROSTER RELEASED

Not long after practice ended, the Panthers released their opening night roster for the 2020-21 season.
Due to the various hurdles created by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, each team is allowed to carry a maximum of 23 players on their roster as well as a 4-6 player taxi squad throughout the season. To start, the Panthers are going with a 22-man roster and a four-man taxi squad.
In order to keep recallable players nearby in case a team needs to make roster adjustments at the drop of a dime, every NHL club will carry a taxi squad throughout this season. This group will practice and participate in team activities, but won't be considered part of the active roster.
Players moving between the main roster and taxi squad will be subject to waiver requirements.
"A number of decisions that we'll be looking at when we're looking at who's playing," Quenneville said. "The scheduling's going to be tight. We're going to be busier than other teams. With the late start in the year, it's going to be even more crammed. We want to make sure that we're even more than fresh [and there's] competition for ice time to play and get in the lineup as well."
The Opening Night roster for the 2020-21 season is as follows:
Forwards:
10 - Brett Connolly
11 - Jonathan Huberdeau (A)
13 - Vinnie Hinostroza
16 - Aleksander Barkov (C)
21 - Alex Wennberg
23 - Carter Verhaeghe
27 - Eetu Luostarinen
55 - Noel Acciari
70 - Patric Hornqvist
74 - Owen Tippett
77 - Frank Vatrano
91 - Anthony Duclair
94 - Ryan Lomberg
Defensemen:
3 - Keith Yandle
5 - Aaron Ekblad (A)
6 - Anton Stralman
7 - Radko Gudas
42 - Gustav Forsling
52 - MacKenzie Weegar
61 - Riley Stillman
Goalies:
33 - Sam Montembeault
60 - Chris Driedger
Taxi Squad:
Forwards (2)
19 - Mason Marchment
20 - Aleksi Heponiemi
Defensemen (1)
25 - Brady Keeper
Goaltenders (1)
30 - Philippe Desrosiers

WEDNESDAY'S PRACTICE LINES

Forwards
Jonathan Huberdeau - Alex Wennberg - Patric Hornqvist
Carter Verhaeghe - Aleksander Barkov - Anthony Duclair
Frank Vatrano - Eetu Luostarinen - Owen Tippett
Vinnie Hinostroza - Noel Acciari - Brett Connolly
Ryan Lomberg - Aleksi Heponiemi - Mason Marchment
Defensemen
MacKenzie Weegar - Aaron Ekblad
Riley Stillman - Anton Stralman
Gustav Forsling - Radko Gudas
Keith Yandle - Brady Keeper
Kevin Connauton
Goalies
Sergei Bobrovsky
Chris Driedger
Sam Montembeault
Philippe Desrosiers