By TIM REYNOLDS (AP Sports Writer)
CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. (AP) — Alex Lyon began this season within the American Hockey League. He truly wasn’t even eligible for the opening two video games of the season down there, since he needed to first serve a suspension for excessively celebrating a championship within the minors final 12 months.
And now he stands out as the goalie the Florida Panthers will guess on to begin the Stanley Cup playoffs — towards the staff that simply posted the very best common season in NHL historical past, no much less.
Lyon is anticipated to be the beginning goaltender Monday night time when Florida visits Boston in Game 1 of an Eastern Conference first-round sequence. If it occurs, it’ll be his NHL playoff debut.
“I never thought I’d be in this situation,” Lyon stated.
That’s comprehensible, for therefore many causes.
Let’s begin right here: The 30-year-old Lyon went undrafted and is actually a profession minor-leaguer — with 227 video games within the AHL, together with playoffs, and solely had 24 coming into this season within the NHL. He set a slew of data in school at Yale, led Chicago to the Calder Cup title final season (the suspension got here from a double-middle-finger salute throughout the on-ice celebration in Springfield after successful that championship), and virtually definitely is finest identified for a 94-save, quintuple-overtime AHL playoff win for Lehigh Valley over Chicago 5 years in the past.
“It was crazy,” Lyon stated. “It very well could be the No. 1 highlight of my hockey career. It was wild.”
He was on the ice for six hours in actual time that night time, after additionally taking part in the night time earlier than. He stopped his remaining 79 pictures of the historic recreation, together with 54 within the overtimes — whereas dealing with elimination. They truly ran out of meals within the locker room that night time, so he resorted to consuming cookies and consuming Coca-Cola between durations for some fast power.
How typically does he get requested about that night time?
“Not as often as I’d like,” Lyon stated.
Fast ahead to this previous offseason. The Panthers, who already had Sergei Bobrovsky and Spencer Knight set as their NHL goalies, signed Lyon to a one-year, two-way contract for $750,000. Had all gone to plan, the Panthers wouldn’t be speaking about Lyon at playoff time.
All didn’t go to plan.
Knight has been away from the staff since February and within the NHL’s participant help program for an undisclosed matter. Bobrovsky bought sick earlier than what principally was a must-win recreation for the Panthers in Toronto final month. Lyon bought the beginning out of desperation.
He received that night time. He’s began each recreation since. He set a staff document with 56 saves in regulation in a single recreation alongside the best way. Players blare songs from “The Lion King” within the locker room for a couple of minutes of what may be finest described as off-key karaoke to salute him now after wins. The Panthers rallied to make the playoffs.
The Bruins, who went an unheard-of 65-12-5 within the common season and received their final eight video games even with nothing left to play for, now await.
“If I told you that the guy who won the American League championship last year and elevated himself and gotten into the NHL and now is ready to be a starting goalie in the playoffs for a team, you might say, ‘Well, that’s a crazy notion,’” Panthers basic supervisor Bill Zito stated. “It’s not as crazy as you think. It being a 30-year-old guy who’s played a handful of NHL games, now the story becomes a little bit more fun.”
And, Zito factors out, it’s a narrative that’s not totally unprecedented. Zito was an agent earlier than turning into a GM. One of his shoppers was goalie Tim Thomas, who didn’t turn into a full-time starter till his early 30’s and received a Stanley Cup with Boston when he was 37.
Maybe it’s Lyon’s flip to begin down such a path. With Bobrovsky and Knight forward of him, Lyon wasn’t precisely betting on getting any actual likelihood with Florida this season. He now may turn into the go-to goalie within the playoffs. Go determine.
“He won a Calder Cup last year in the AHL,” Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad stated. “That’s no easy feat. He’s been there, he’s done that, and we’re excited to work for him.”
It could possibly be argued that Lyon saved Florida’s season twice. He was the goalie in a win over Boston on Jan. 28 that snapped a three-game slide, then went 6-1-1 within the remaining eight video games of the common season to finish the playoff push.
“For me, the ability to see all of this as icing on the cake is something that’s very powerful,” Lyon stated. “I just tried to lean into that. I make a living playing hockey, really good money, life could be a lot worse for me. I go into every game thinking ‘Here’s worst-case scenario, here’s best-case scenario, is my life gonna be over if this happens? Probably not.’ Life keeps moving forward, so that’s the way that I try to approach it. Just stay in the moment as best I can.”
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Source: www.bostonherald.com”