Brett Connolly is only Panthers player with a Cup. His new goal? ‘To see other guys win.’
Brett Connolly understands the primary reason the Florida Panthers wanted to bring him in as a free agent in the offseason. Stanley Cup playoffs success has been rare in Sunrise, so Dale Tallon knew he needed to look outside the organization to find postseason experience.
The biggest acquisition in this area was Joel Quenneville, who coached the Chicago Blackhawks to three Stanley Cups last decade. Connolly, who won the Cup in 2018 as a member of the Washington Capitals, is the closest thing to Quenneville’s on-ice equivalent.
“That’s a big reason why they brought me here,” said the wing, who is in the first year of a four-year deal, “so I know what’s coming. I’m prepared for us and I would just love more than anything — not only for me — to see my teammates do well and win a Stanley Cup.”
This trip to the NHL’s expanded 24-team postseason marks just the fourth time in franchise history the Panthers have reached the postseason. They’ve been to the Stanley Cup Finals just once, way back in 1996. Even Florida’s longest-tenured players have played in just six playoff games. Connolly has played in nearly as many Cup Finals games.
Connolly was a key role player for the Capitals in the 2018 Stanley Cup Finals, scoring twice and handing out another assist to help Washington win its first title. The 28-year-old Canadian is the only Panthers player to get to hoist the Cup at any point in his career. It gives him a different motivation as Florida is just two weeks out from opening the qualifying round against the New York Islanders in Toronto.
“For me, I want to see other guys win,” Connolly said. “Unselfishly, I’d love to be a part of that and see my teammates for the first time, and just seeing the guys do well in the playoffs.”
Connolly isn’t the only player with Finals experience Tallon went out and added before the season, though. Center Noel Acciari, who played in the 2019 Stanley Cup Finals with the Boston Bruins, joined the team on a three-year deal. Defenseman Anton Stralman, who has played in the Finals twice with the New York Rangers and Tampa Bay Lightning, also signed a three-year deal. Florida even added Brian Boyle, a 35-year-old forward with more than 100 games of postseason experience and a Finals appearance, as a free-agent acquisition about a month into the season.
Quenneville can lead with his experience from the bench, but players like Connolly, Boyle, Acciari and Stralman will be able to lead, too.
“As you go through the process of trying to win the Cup, guys that have been around, they know what to say, they know what to expect and sometimes that can be shared,” Quenneville said. “Let’s hope that these guys can share those memories and experiences and help one another.”
Said Connolly: “It’s a different game, so for us I think the veteran guys and guys that have been there before just need to be ready, and be leading with just the way we play and our habits. ... I think if we can do that and help out, and be a good example for guys that haven’t been or haven’t had a lot of experience or nerves maybe going for the first time, that’s kind of what we can do.”
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Healthy Florida Panthers
A week of postseason training camp is in the books and the Panthers have gotten through unscathed. Florida practiced Five times in the first week of training camp at the Florida Panthers IceDen and the 30 active players combined to miss just one session on the ice.
Acciari sat out Tuesday for a maintenance day, Quenneville said. Otherwise, Florida got through its first week in Coral Springs without any disruptions for COVID-19 or injuries resulting from the four months off because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Instead, the Panthers are as healthy as they’ve been in months with the layoff helping every banged-up player on the NHL roster recover.
“It gave time to recover,” said defenseman Riley Stillman, who suffered a head injury in the penultimate game before the break. “My head’s good.”
Florida will be off Sunday, Queneville said.
