Stillman-Postcard-Featured-08-03-20

Hey Panthers fans,
After making my NHL playoff debut, I have to say that it's a whole new level.
I mean every step is a different level, right? You go from minor to junior, from junior to the AHL, from the AHL to the NHL, and then from the NHL to the NHL playoffs. Each of those steps comes with butterflies, or whatever you call them.
But after a few shifts against the Islanders, it became just another game. I'm here to do what I can to help the team. As soon as things get going, you get over all of the nerves pretty quickly. It's all about channeling your emotions in the right way.
Going into the second game, I feel a lot better about that.
At 22, I feel pretty lucky that I'm getting an experience like this at this point in my career. It's something that maybe I think I'll step back and really think about one day. But, for now, it's still all about living in the moment and taking it day by day.
Heading to the bubble, I had all of these thoughts running through my head - What's it going to be like? How's everything going to run? Well, I have to say the NHL has done a great job and absolutely blew my expectations out of the water.
When we're not at the rink, it's mainly just finding things to stay busy. I've been reading a decent amount, but I like to get out of my room as much as possible.
It's pretty easy to get a group together to do something. We have a group chat that's pretty active, and the NHL has given us a lot to do. The other day, Erik Haula had booked the golf simulator in the game room. He just said, "Hey, I'm going down there." The next thing you knew we had about 8-10 guys hitting balls.
We've also played spike ball and soccer over the past few days. Overall, the lounge has been great for guys to hang out in. We spend a lot of time in there.