When the Maple Leafs begin their season on Sept. 29, Bobrovsky will be a little more than a week past his 38th birthday.
asserted
Bobrovsky → begin → birthday
That’ll make him the second-oldest goaltender in the NHL behind Columbus’s Cam Talbot, 39.
asserted
him → make → Talbot
Which means Bobrovsky will be 40 years old when he begins the final year of the three-year contract he signed with the Maple Leafs in July — that is, assuming Bobrovsky makes it to the final year of that deal.
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Bobrovsky → mean → deal
Only a handful of NHL goaltenders have survived in the crease past 40.
asserted
handful → survive → 40
Add that to the fact Bobrovsky is coming off the worst season of his career as measured by save percentage — he put up an unsightly .877 last season in Florida — and you understand the risk.
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you → add → risk
”(Signing players into their 40s) is not something I want to make a habit of doing as a general rule,” John Chayka, the Maple Leafs general manager, said this past summer.
asserted
Chayka → sign → rule
“But I’d say Sergei Bobrovsky isn’t a general person.”
asserted
Bobrovsky → say → ?
Therein lies the thinking behind inking a 16-year NHL veteran to a relatively long-term deal: Bobrovsky isn’t like everyone else.
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Bobrovsky → lie → everyone
Owner of two Vezina Trophies and two Stanley Cup rings, Bobrovsky ranks seventh on the NHL’s all-time regular-season goaltender wins list.
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Bobrovsky → rank → list
He needs just four wins to pass Henrik Lundqvist for sixth and 29 wins to usurp Ed Belfour for fifth.
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He → need → fifth
And like Belfour, who signed with the Maple Leafs as a free agent in 2002 at age 37, Bobrovsky arrives in the centre of the hockey universe with a well-earned reputation for a maniacal devotion to the craft.
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Bobrovsky → sign → craft
Bobrovsky has long been known for an excruciating off-season workout regimen and a meticulous game-day routine that includes Olympic weightlifting.
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that → know → weightlifting
“He might be the hardest-working player I’ve ever seen at any position,” Paul Holmgren, the former general manager of the Philadelphia Flyers, once said of Bobrovsky.
uncertain
Holmgren → work → Bobrovsky
The Leafs are hoping that, thanks to the work Bobrovsky puts into his body, the date on his birth certificate won’t inhibit his ability to stop pucks in the blue paint.
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date → hop → paint
As Andy O’Brien, the Leafs’ newly appointed vice president of sports performance, told TSN radio during the summer: “(Bobrovsky’s) biological age is younger than his chronological age, if you ask me.”
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you → appoint → me
If Bobrovsky is successful in turning back the clock there could be other benefits to his presence.
uncertain
Bobrovsky → turn → presence
Inserting a surefire future Hall of Famer in a dressing room is rarely a bad thing.
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Inserting → insert → room
Not only is Bobrovsky expected to be a mentor to younger teammates — perhaps first and foremost to goaltending tandem partner Anthony Stolarz and Marlies goaltender Artur Akhtyamov, a 24-year-old Russian — he is already a living example of what it takes to be a champion.
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it → expect → what
“In practice he kind of forces the shooters to up their game and forces the (other) goalies to up their game as well,” Stolarz said.
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Stolarz → force → game
“You see his work ethic and you kind of want to match it.”
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you → see → it
Stolarz, of course, was Bobrovsky’s backup in Florida in 2023-24, when the Panthers won their first of two straight Stanley Cups.
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Panthers → win → Cups
Considering Stolarz’s long-held struggle to stay healthy — he has never started more than 33 games in a season — Bobrovsky’s track record of durability is another reason why the Maple Leafs rolled the dice in acquiring him.
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Leafs → consider → him
Over the previous five seasons, Bobrovsky averaged 53 regular-season starts.
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Bobrovsky → average → starts
The Leafs haven’t had a 50-game starter since they employed prime Frederik Andersen.
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they → have → Andersen
“It’s great, the reunion with (Stolarz),” Bobrovsky said.
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Bobrovsky → ’ → Stolarz
He’s a great goalie and we’re just excited to be here and help this team win.”
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team → ’ → ?
If there’s a reason to raise an eyebrow to Bobrovsky’s presence in Toronto, it’s this: The Panthers essentially gave up on him when they made a July trade to acquire Jacob Markström shortly before it was announced Bobrovsky was signing with the Leafs.
asserted
Bobrovsky → ’ → Leafs
And given the Panthers inked him to a two-year deal worth $6 million a season, he’s not much cheaper.
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he → give → deal
Markström is, undeniably, a lot less accomplished.
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Markström → accomplish → ?
And yet the Panthers, after contract talks with Bobrovsky broke down, opted to move on from the goaltender who took them to three straight Cup finals before last season’s playoff miss.
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who → break → miss
Whatever the case, they aren’t the first organization to give up on him.
asserted
they → give → him
The Flyers, unconvinced in Bobrovsky’s wherewithal as a starter back in 2012, traded him to the Columbus Blue Jackets.
asserted
Flyers → trade → Jackets
Bobrovsky promptly won a Vezina Trophy in his first year in Columbus, then another a few years later.
asserted
Bobrovsky → win → Columbus
The Leafs can hope the Panthers live to regret Bobrovsky’s departure in the same way the Flyers long have.
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Flyers → hope → way
Bobrovsky, for his part, has said one of the keys to his approach has been to avoid thinking about the past or the future and concentrate only on the now.
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one → say → now
Which speaks to the reason for his presence in Leafland.
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Which → speak → Leafland
A franchise bent on winning now is putting its faith in one of the winningest goaltenders in NHL history, Father Time’s undefeated record notwithstanding.
asserted
franchise → bend → record
“It’s another opportunity,” Bobrovsky said of playing in Toronto.
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Bobrovsky → ’ → Toronto
“That’s the hockey life.
asserted
That → ’ → ?
So I’m here and I’m excited to be here, excited to be part of this team, part of this great group of guys.
asserted
I → ’m → guys
The Aporia
