Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky comes in with a glowing reputation in the NHL. A leadership role on his new team would seem reasonable given his track record, but does he want that?
It's a new chapter for Sergei Bobrovsky, gearing up for season No. 17 and his first with the Toronto Maple Leafs at 38 years old.
With that comes plenty of change, especially after seven years with the Florida Panthers. After Tuesday's practice at training camp, the veteran goaltender noted that it's the first time he and his family will see the winter for quite some time.
But besides all that, a goalie of Bobrovsky's stature winning two Stanley Cups, a pair of Vezina Trophies, and being seventh all-time in wins by an NHL goaltender - it would seem pretty obvious for him to adopt a leadership role, even with how young his tenure in Toronto is.
He was asked if he sees a leadership role on the team for himself, but he's not looking to chase any specific roles beyond the job of an NHL goaltender.
"The biggest thing for me is stopping the puck," Bobrovsky said. "Stopping the puck, I will try to do my best to give the guys a chance to win every night. And that's my main focus. And then we go from, if I accomplish that, we're going to go from there."
Aside from Bobrovsky's perspective, his teammates and even head coach Jim Hiller can't deny the weight that his words carry when he speaks. The Maple Leafs' bench boss was also asked what kind of impact Bobrovsky's presence can have on the roster.
"Well, I would hope it's going to make a big one, and I think I've seen some of that already," Hiller said. "When he speaks, you listen, and he's soft-spoken. You've got to lean in a little bit. And it's coming from the best place. So I would think it's had a positive effect already. It's hard to measure it, right? But let's see as the season goes on. But, you know, I talk to different players. They're just like, I love this guy. Like, just how can you not?"
One tale that gets carried with Bobrovsky is how he prepares off the ice. He's got his specific routines that have reached a legendary status around the NHL.
"I've tried to stay away," Hiller admitted. "I've tried to stay away because that's not my job necessarily. And I've got enough things to overthink, so I try to stay away from that. But I have heard some of the things, and, again, it's just the commitment to it, right? That's what you love."
"It's always changing," Bobrovsky said about his off-ice routines. "It's nothing steady. There are some tools that I need for my preparation. But, yeah, I'm always open to new things, always to be open to tweak some things, it's never stayed."
He explained that his routine consists of some stretching, cardio and strength exercising.
"You have to track the puck, you have to be good agility, flexibility, strength, and it's so many things to cover, and you can cover them all," he said. "You have to, like, choose some. Do it here, do it that. Choose what works for you and take it what helps and throw it away what doesn't."
Bobrovsky added that he also takes up some basic gymnastics as part of his preparation.
"I do gymnastics in the summer," he said. "In gymnastics, you do the stretch, you do the core strength, spine, all the speed and the balance, all those things."
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