By TIM REYNOLDS (AP Sports Writer)
CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. (AP) — Alex Lyon began this season within the American Hockey League. He really 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 could be the goalie the Florida Panthers will wager on to begin the Stanley Cup playoffs — in opposition to the staff that simply posted one of the best common season in NHL historical past, no much less.
Lyon — as had been anticipated — was introduced as Florida’s decide to be the beginning goaltender for Game 1 of an Eastern Conference first-round sequence in opposition to the Boston Bruins on Monday night time. It’ll be Lyon’s 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 information in school at Yale, led Chicago to the Calder Cup title final season (the suspension got here from an obscene gesture throughout the on-ice celebration in Springfield after successful that championship), and nearly actually is finest recognized 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 sport, together with 54 within the overtimes — whereas dealing with elimination. They really 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 received sick earlier than what mainly was a must-win sport for the Panthers in Toronto final month. Lyon received the beginning out of desperation.
He gained that night time. He’s began each sport since. He set a staff document with 56 saves in regulation in a single sport alongside the best way. Players blare songs from “The Lion King” within the locker room for a couple of minutes of what could be finest described as off-key karaoke to salute him now after wins. The Panthers rallied to make the playoffs.
“He’s really good,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice stated Monday when revealing the considering behind choosing Lyon over Bobrovsky. “He’s played really well for us. And that’s it. Not overthinking a whole lot. … We’ve got two good goalies and I’m comfortable with either of them, but Lyon deserves to start.”
The Bruins, who went an unheard-of 65-12-5 within the common season and gained 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 develop into a full-time starter till his early 30s and gained 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 probability with Florida this season. He now may develop 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 may very well 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