Maple Leafs' Stolarz Shelves Panthers Ties And Bond Over Cats In Playoff Series

Anthony Stolarz hasn’t spoken with any of his ex-Florida Panthers teammates in a while, but he’s excited to get this second-round series going on Monday night.

The 31-year-old admitted on Sunday that, although he hasn’t chatted with any of his old teammates in some time, he’s still close with guys like Matthew Tkachuk and Aaron Ekblad, who will be tough opponents for him and the Toronto Maple Leafs.

"I was pretty close with a lot of guys there," Stolarz said Sunday, ahead of Game 1, a day later. "We had a pretty tight-knit group. You play and achieve the things that we did, you tend to stay in touch."

Stolarz added that he’s also very tight with Selke Trophy-nominee Sam Reinhart, who he says fostered and gave him his cat, Sunny.

"He (Reinhart) was just walking one night, and I guess the cat followed him and his wife home," Stolarz said. "They were looking for a family, and my wife and I just decided it would be best to take it in, and the rest is history."

Stolarz is an animal person who grew up with cats and dogs around the house. He loves animals, he said, though for the next two weeks, Stolarz will be an enemy to a Panthers team looking for another Stanley Cup.

"We saw one Tkachuk in round one, and you get another one in round two," he smiled.

What makes Florida such a difficult opponent is both their skill and toughness. All four lines are challenging, with Tkachuk, Reinhart, Aleksander Barkov, Sam Bennett, and Brad Marchand leading the charge.

And if you get past them, you still have to beat Sergei Bobrovsky, a two-time Vezina Trophy-winner, whom Stolarz knows very well.

"It’s going to be exciting. You’re in the second round, and it doesn’t matter who you face, you’re going to want to go out there, and you’re going to want to try to outduel him and hope for some goalie battles," Stolarz said.

"At the end of the day, it’s about just making one more stop than the other guy, so I’m just going to go out there, work hard, have fun, and just enjoy this moment, this round, with my teammates."

There’s a ton of familiarity in this series, from both sides. With Stolarz, Steven Lorentz, and Oliver Ekman-Larsson coming from Florida in the summer, they can give the Maple Leafs some insight on their opponent.

But Auston Matthews also grew up playing with Tkachuk in junior, and was his teammate on Team USA at the 4 Nations Face-Off: "I feel like I know him pretty well. I’ve got a lot of respect for him," he said.

It’s not going to be an easy series for either team. Toronto has plenty to be excited about going into round two, especially with a new mindset under Berube and the possibility of dad strength from Mitch Marner.

Florida is confident after sending the Tampa Bay Lightning back home down the highway in five games.

There’ll be ups and downs throughout the series, but after eliminating the Ottawa Senators in six games, the Maple Leafs feel ready for a Panthers team with a surplus of bite.

"Ottawa’s kind of a good little jumpstart for us to lead into Florida. They play a little similar system, that tough, rugged style," Stolarz said.

"I think going forward, it was nice to get a little bit of a warmup in, and now we’re going to have to go out there, and they’re the King of the Castle that won the Stanley Cup last year, so we’re going to want to go out there and work hard and battle."