Is Joel Quenneville tired of getting asked about Sergei Bobrovsky yet? ‘It’s what it is’
The question was bound to come at some point during his 10-minute interview Wednesday on WQAM. The question has dogged the Florida Panthers all throughout Joel Quenneville’s and Sergei Bobrovsky’s first seasons in Sunrise. Bobrovsky was a $70-million investment for the Panthers in the offseason — the sort of investment Florida was banking on to transform it from a perennial doormat into a legitimate threat in the Eastern Conference. Far too often, the goaltender was just another part of the Panthers’ inconsistencies.
Quenneville spent all season hearing the same sort of questions about Bobrovsky underwhelming play until finally, when the COVID-19 pandemic halted the season in March, he got to go nearly four months without needing to come up with answers. The expanded postseason now is less than two weeks away, though, which means it’s time for the coach to start answering questions about his superstar goalie’s uneven play.
“Are you getting sick of the Bobrovsky questions at this point?” asked Zach Krantz of “The Joe Rose Show with Zach Krantz.”
“It’s what it is,” Quenneville said.
It’s particularly the nature of the beast this time of year, when a goaltender’s play can be the most important factor in determining who advances through the Stanley Cup playoffs. This is the time of year Florida was thinking about when it gave Bobrovsky a seven-year deal last year.
If Bobrovsky delivers in the qualifying round against the New York Islanders next month in Toronto and springs the Panthers into the more traditional 16-team postseason for only the fourth time in franchise history, all will be forgotten for his disappointing debut season in South Florida.
“After the four months, it is a fresh start,” Bobrovsky said Tuesday. “It’s been a long time for everybody and we actually had the time to rest, and we had the time to train on our own and it’s a long time, four months, so it is a fresh start.”
By now, Bobrovsky’s rocky year has been well documented. His 3.23 goals against average is easily the worst of his career. His .900 save percentage is his second worst ahead of only his second season, when he was a part-time player for the Philadelphia Flyers. Only 41.7 percent of his starts were deemed quality starts, as defined by Rob Vollman’s Hockey Abstract. A year after Bobrovsky led the NHL with nine shutouts, he had just one in the regular season this year.
Bobrovsky wasn’t pleased with his play in the regular season, either. The postseason is a chance at redemption in Year 1.
“He’s committed to doing whatever it takes,” Quenneville said. “Bob has had a great attitude about where he is and where he’s at today.”
A week into into postseason training camp, Quenneville has repeatedly heaped praise upon the 31-year-old Russian.
When the first practice wrapped up Monday at the Florida Panthers IceDen, Quenneville and a group of coaches gathered to talk about what they had seen in their first full-team practice in four months. Quenneville realized no one said anything about Bobrovsky. He also realized goaltending coach Robb Tallas wasn’t there to give his insight on the goaltenders.
“We’ll ask Tally what he thought,” Quenneville told the rest of the staff, “because when you don’t notice the goalies that’s a good thing.”
Tallas agreed.
“He was raving about how well Bob did,” Quenneville said.
With the time off, Bobrovsky and Tallas were able to fully assess the goaltender’s first regular season in Florida, and return to Coral Springs with a plan to have Bobrovsky at his best once the team heads up to Canada.
The common refrain throughout the first week of practice for Bobrovsky was patience. The focus right now is to make sure he’s playing patient in the crease. Most of the tinkering is going into his mental setup rather than technical overhauls. A fresh start means a chance to reframe everything.
“I’ve got to commend him on how well he’s played, how well he’s prepared,” Quenneville said. “Robbie Tallas and him spent a lot of time going into this training camp looking at the game, looking at his season prior to this and having a great attitude’s been part of it, but he’s looking to make whatever adjustments are necessary. You watch him in practice, you can see that his patience level is right there, but he’s been really good. Goaltending’s been excellent.”
This story was originally published July 19, 2020 at 9:00 AM.
