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Panthers’ Bobrovsky opens up on playoff benching: ‘I wasn’t happy,’ but ‘it is what it is’

After last season ended with Sergei Bobrovsky benched by the Florida Panthers in favor of Chris Driedger and Spencer Knight, the goaltender did everything he could to get away from hockey for a little while.

He deleted his Instagram account and started to learn how to play the guitar and cook. He went back to St. Petersburg, Russia, and spent his offseason going to concerts, art museums and the ballet. It was important to put another disappointing season behind him.

“My main focus was get away from the game, refresh and clear my mind, get the body ready, get ready for the season,” the two-time Vezina Trophy winner said. “I learned that as I get older, that this is important time to leave the hockey life at the rink. As soon as they close that door, you have to change your mind-set and get relaxed and focus on the other things.”

It has been more than two years since the Panthers signed him to a seven-year, $70 million contract — he’s still the second-highest-paid goalie in the league — and now he’s at his third Florida training camp, still trying to play up to the expectations the Panthers had for him when they brought him to South Florida in 2019.

In his first season, Bobrovsky was one of the worst starting goalies in the league and the Panthers only made the 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs because the NHL expanded them to 22 teams because of the COVID-19 pandemic. His second season was a modest return to form, although he split time with Driedger throughout the regular season and eventually unraveled in the 2021 Stanley Cup playoffs.

Bobrovsky got benched once after he allowed five goals in Game 1 of Florida’s first-round series against the Tampa Bay Lightning and got benched for good after he gave up five goals on 14 shots in Game 4. He wasn’t even active for the final two games of the series, as Knight started the final two with Driedger as the backup.

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More than four months later, Bobrovsky finally spoke for the first time since the season ended with him watching out of uniform.

“It is what it is. Definitely, I wasn’t happy with that, but I think there is management and coaches, and they decide that, they do that and that’s their decision. And I just live with that,” Bobrovsky said. “Of course, I’m not happy, but I don’t want to think about that. I think this is a new season and this is an opportunity and I’ve got to prepare myself.”

Driedger is now gone — the Seattle Kraken took him in the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft — but Knight, 20, is still in Broward County and quickly moving from being the Panthers’ goalie of the future to their goalie of the present.

At least to start training camp, Florida is still operating as if Bobrovsky, 33, will begin the regular season as the starter, though. When camp began Thursday in Sunrise, Joel Quenneville said Bobrovsky will “have the workload.”

“It’s a healthy situation when you look at it,” the coach said. “Bob’s got the net and Spencer’s going to be the guy learning and observing.”

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Last season, Knight credited Bobrovsky and Driedger, saying both were supportive as he got acclimated to the NHL and took their jobs. Knight was just playing for the Boston College Eagles in March, after all, and he was starting in the Stanley Cup playoffs two weeks later. As mature as he seems, Knight is still only a rookie with just six games of NHL experience.

Bobrovsky said their relationship is good, even as they compete for ice time.

“I never have a problem with the other goalie,” Bobrovsky said. “Growing up, I always had a good relationship with the goalies, and I think this is no different, so we’re going to build a good relationship and going to do our best to help the team winning.”

While Quenneville said he wants Knight to be able to sit and learn from Bobrovsky, the veteran said there’s nothing he explicitly does to help teach. Knight, he said, will learn from just watching how the veterans go about their work.

“I’m not the helper here. We have to help the team. He’s got his own journey, I’ve got my own journey, and we’re going to work together and help the team win,” Bobrovsky said. “The environment helps. I learned a lot from the veterans — how they approach the game, how they approach themselves, how hard they work and what they do. All the little details — that’s what I learned as a young player.”

Florida Panthers center Joe Thornton (19) skates during training camp in preparation for the 2021-22 NHL season at the FLA Live Arena on Thursday, September 23, 2021 in Sunrise, Florida.
Florida Panthers center Joe Thornton (19) skates during training camp in preparation for the 2021-22 NHL season at the FLA Live Arena on Thursday, September 23, 2021 in Sunrise, Florida.

Forwards Lundell, Thornton miss practice

Center Anton Lundell missed his second straight practice to start camp with an undisclosed injury, but Quenneville is optimistic the rookie will make his debut Saturday at the Panthers’ final practice before the preseason begins Sunday with a doubleheader against the Nashville Predators at 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. at FLA Live Arena.

Joe Thornton also missed practice with an undisclosed injury, although Quenneville said he could return Saturday, too.