Cole Schwindt ‘fit right in’ with Panthers in debut. A bond with a teammate eased transition
When Cole Schwindt got word that he was making his way to Sunrise, that he was temporarily joining the Florida Panthers, that he was most likely going to be making his NHL debut, the first person he reached out to was Owen Tippett.
“He’s done a whole lot for me,” Schwindt said.
Schwindt and Tippett’s relationship goes back to before both players joined the Panthers’ organization — Tippett as the 10th overall pick in the 2017 NHL Entry Level Draft, Schwindt as a third-round pick in 2019.
They were teammates for two seasons with the Mississauga Steelheads of the Ontario Hockey League in Canada and built a bond there even though Tippett is two years older.
Now that they’re teammates again, Tippett is keeping the open door policy for a mentor-mentee relationship with one of the Panthers’ budding forward prospects.
“He’s a great kid,” Tippett said. “I think I helped him a lot through juniors more than now, I would say, but he came up to me. He’s kind of had an open forum of just asking any questions he has. With a kid like that, that I’ve seen kind of come up through juniors and now into the pros, it’s great to see. For him to play his NHL debut was awesome I didn’t really say too much. I just kind of said have fun with it and play your game.”
Schwindt only logged 9:27 of ice time in his debut, a 4-1 loss to the Los Angeles Kings on Dec. 16 with Florida missing seven players due to the NHL’s COVID-19 protocols, but interim coach Andrew Brunette liked what he saw from the 20-year-old forward. Schwindt recorded five hits, one takeaway and went 2 for 5 in the faceoff circle while bouncing around on different forward lines throughout his 13 shifts.
“He fit right in,” Brunette said. “I kind of looked at the time on ice [afterward] and thought I could’ve played him a little bit more. I thought he was effective. He’s what we thought he was going to be. I think there’s a lot more upside there for him.”
Schwindt admitted he had to calm himself down at points when he was on the ice. He was also fighting fatigue after playing games on back-to-back days with the Charlotte Checkers, the Panthers’ American Hockey League Affiliate, before getting the call to play for the Panthers.
With that said, Schwindt said “It wasn’t too tough to get myself up for this one.”
“Getting a chance to play your first NHL game is something every kid dreams of,” Schwindt said. “I tried to take a pregame nap when I got into Florida ... but there was no chance I was falling asleep. There was a lot of jitters and definitely a lot of excitement. Moving forward, I’m gonna remember this for the rest of my life.”
Schwindt and the other three players the Panthers called up as reinforcements for their depleted roster — fellow forward Grigori Denisenko as well as defensemen Chase Priskie and Matt Kiersted — were sent back to the Checkers after the Panthers’ season was put on hold. Schwindt is tied for the Checkers’ team lead with nine goals and 19 points.
Schwindt credited Checkers coach Geordie Kinnear for teaching him “how to be reliable on both sides of the puck and just be a 200-foot player.”
“Coming up here, I think I can definitely show some of that,” Schwindt said, “and I think there’s a lot more room to improve for myself.”
And Tippett plans to be there to help Schwindt improve. The past relationship helps with their chemistry and made it easier for Schwindt to reach out to Tippett.
Tippett, still a budding player in his own right with just 81 games of NHL experience under his belt, isn’t taking the opportunity to be a teammate’s mentor for granted.
“I had people to lean on when I was first coming in a couple years ago, and I just know how much that helped me with little information or tips on how to play and things about the game,” Tippett said. “I’m just going to try and do that with with whoever comes in. I mean there’s the connection with Cole from before but if any of the young guys need anything, I’d be happy to help them and I’m going to make sure that they are comfortable.”
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