Sergei Bobrovsky joined the Florida Panthers as a two-time Vezina Trophy winner with the Columbus Blue Jackets. Naturally, the hype was through the roof, and then Panthers’ head coach Joel Quenneville set the tone for the team’s expectations from the Russian goaltender. “He’s got a chance to win for us and to prove that he’s a top goalie in the game,” said Quenneville.

The coach’s words made sense when viewed through the lens of context from his 2019-2020 performance. Bobrovsky played 50 games, winning 23 and losing 19. However, his 3.23 goals-against number was the highest of his 10-season NHL career. Meanwhile, the .900 save percentage was the second lowest during the regular season. Unfortunately, neither the team nor Bobrovsky lived up to those expectations during their three-game playoff run. Yet that may not have been entirely the goalie’s fault.

Sergei Bobrovsky’s father, Andrei Bobrovsky, recently made a surprising revelation about his son’s performance a few years ago under Joel Quenneville. “He gets great support from us, his family, his two daughters, our grandkids. The team, the coaching staff that believes in him, everything aligns to keep Sergei pushing to improve,” said Andrei Bobrovsky, crediting the support system behind his son’s Stanley Cup-winning success. However, it was this element that was missing under Quenneville.

“His mental game was always solid, but experience has made it rock solid,” Andrei Bobrovsky said about the Vezina winner. However, a lack of faith from Quenneville may have interfered with that mental game. “Joel Quenneville, in my opinion, didn’t trust him as much,” Sergei Bobrovsky’s father told the Russian daily, Sports-Express. And senior Bobrovsky certainly had a point.

After missing the seven NHL playoffs in the 2010s, the Panthers still struggled in the initial 2020s. It wasn’t until Bill Zito became GM that he started rebuilding the team for success. It was Zito who brought head coach Paul Maurice on board in June 2022m that talent like Sergei Bobrovsky once again found their footing. That’s something every Panthers star is grateful for. And the Panthers’ head coach, oh he has always been nothing but all praises for his net minder, vice versa.

Sergei Bobrovsky’s praise for the Panthers’ system

What prompted Andrei Bobrovsky to bring up the former Panthers coach was the reporter’s question on how the goalie is like fine wine. “He’s at what many consider an advanced age for hockey, yet he seems to be getting better,” stated the reporter. And guess what? This is something that the back-to-back Stanley Cup winner has already addressed.

“I’ve said so many times, I’m blessed with the team that I have. The guys, the management, the coaches. The coaches allow me to do my things, which is important, especially at my age,” Sergei Bobrovsky told the Associated Press. So it’s no wonder that Andrei Bobrovsky also credits the support from everyone around his son for improving the NHL goaltender’s game.

And all of this is thanks to the GM Bill Zito and the people he brought. In fact, Bobrovsky isn’t the only one who praised the management and coaches for his NHL resurgence. Bill Zito “has done a great job, and hopefully we can reward him with a win… He’s been a great GM, and he’s somebody who changed my life bringing me here,” said Matthew Tkachuk.

“So, I’ll always thank him for that,” Tkachuk said of the Panthers’ GM as per Sportsnet’s Eric Engels. The Panthers’ forward explained that the “culture” Bill Zito has built alongside head coach Paul Maurice lies at the root of the Cats’ success. So not just Sergei Bobrovsky, but the entire Panthers squad, has benefited from the winning culture that’s so prevalent in the Cats camp.