‘He’s on the dark side now’: Panthers-turned-Maple Leafs sharpen fangs

TORONTO — The first time the three Panthers-turned-Maple Leafs returned to Florida was wildly different than the second time.

In late November, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Anthony Stolarz and Steven Lorentz flew back to Fort Lauderdale wearing blue and were greeted by sapphires of the same shade.

Oh, there were yellow sapphires, too. Thirty-seven of them. And 16 red princess-cut rubies, one for every victory en route to their 2024 Stanley Cup championship. Those multi-coloured precious stones, which formed the logo of the Florida Panthers, were clustered by 554 diamonds and fastened to a 14-karat band of yellow gold.

Inside the Panthers’ new Fort Lauderdale practice facility that day, the ex-Cats were surrounded and applauded by their former teammates. Each was awarded a gaudy bauble for their efforts in achieving a franchise first.

Then the current Maple Leafs literally added rings to the room.

This brief, emotional presentation took place only a 10-minute drive from the Elbo Room, that iconic two-story beachfront bar where Matthew Tkachuk waterfalled beer from the Stanley Cup and down to the open mouths of fans on the sidewalk. A short jaunt from the Atlantic Ocean, where Lord Stanley received his southernmost baptism. And a $9 Uber from the A1A, where Ekman-Larsson, Stolarz and Lorentz paraded and partied like rock stars before bolting as free agents before the hangover cleared.

“Whether I get to see them here today or get to see them on the ice, you’ll lock eyes and there will be a little smile and a flood of memories,” their ex-coach Paul Maurice said on that proud November morning.

“What an incredible time. You get to keep that. You don’t walk around all day thinking about that stuff. But then, every once in a while, you get this surprise reminder. You get this 30-second warm bath that you slip into about how nice that was last year.”

A few hours following the best parting gift money can’t buy, the current Panthers whooped their old pals and the Maple Leafs 5-1.

The second time the three ex-Cats revisited the city of their career peak was much less of a love-in.

It was the first week of April, and the divisional rivals were prepping for this seemingly inevitable playoff clash in opposite ways.

Maurice’s Panthers had slipped into full rest-our-weapons, save-our-shins mode, more concerned with full health than top seeding or home ice.

The Maple Leafs, however, were on a mission to finish the regular season strong (check!), earn a weaker wild-card opponent (check!), and delay dancing with those dark demons of the Sunshine State until Round 2 (check!).

Toronto’s businesslike approach — which was evident in the Leafs’ modest celebration Thursday night in Ottawa, following their first-round victory over the Senators — had already been installed.

The happy-go-lucky Lorentz has a slew of friends who still play for the Panthers. He made a point to not meet up with or speak to any of them before that final regular-season meeting.

“I mean, I wouldn’t hold it against a guy if he’s going to see someone on the other team. But, at this time of year, I want to keep everything internal,” Lorentz said on April 8. “You want your group to be as tight as possible.

“It’s a battle right now. It’s a new season. So, we’re trying to win.”

But what about all those buddies on the parade bus? And the Panthers Cup tattoo on Lorentz’s leg?

“Yeah, good memories. That’s in the past,” said Lorentz. A gravity took over his normally light tone. “We’ve got a job to do, so that’s the focus right now.

“Again, we’ve been on a new team all season. And this is where my heart’s at right now. And this is where we want to win. So that’s where my mind is.”

Maurice says there was no shock on the Panthers’ side when Ekman-Larsson, Stolarz and Lorentz all signed elsewhere. The same went for Ryan Lomberg and Kevin Stenlund.

Inevitable is the word the coach uses to describe the scattering of role-playing free agents who thrived in the Cup’s spotlight and rightly priced themselves out of town.

“You love them, right?” Maurice reminded reporters in Florida this weekend.

But you must be willing to let go of the ones you love once you realize it’s not in their best interest. Staying put means stunting their growth, financially and athletically.

“There are certain players that get to a point financially, they can play wherever they want for whatever dollar amount. They can accept less. They can,” Maurice said.

“These guys, it’s a pretty big deal, the contract they get coming off winning a Stanley Cup. But they need to go somewhere else. They’re not playing till they’re 60. They’ve got a window. For those players in that fourth-line role, there’s always some summertime concern about, are they going to get a contract?

“So, these guys all get deals, and they’ve earned them, and they need to take them. They need to leave. For their families, they need to make as much money as they can in the window of time they have.”

Maurice pinpoints January of last season when he noticed something about Stolarz, the talented journeyman stuck supporting future Hall of Famer Sergei Bobrovsky.

“His entire game changed,” Maurice recalls of Stolarz’s scorching 8-1 run as Bob’s backup from late January through late March 2024. “He got to a structure in his game… and that was kind of when he took off.”

Winter nights like that one in Buffalo, when Stolarz pitched a 45-save shutout, reinforced what Panthers goalie guru Rob Tallas had been telling Maurice since training camp: “This guy’s a player. This guy’s a goalie. He’s just had some injuries, and he’s been on some teams that it’s tough to kind of get that confidence, to get to that role, to get feeling good. But Robbie Tallas never wavered from his belief in Stollie.”

Bobrovsky loved having a partner like Stolarz, who spelled the workhorse out wonderfully on back-to-backs and knows how to ride the line between competitive and friendly. In turn, Stolarz went to school during Bobrovsky’s taxing ’24 championship run, taking notes from one of the greats’ relentless work ethic and next-shot mindset.

“I like to pride myself on working hard, but he went above and beyond — getting out early, staying late after practice, doing lifts, doing his stretching and his routines. He was always consistent when it came to that,” Stolarz said upon signing in Toronto.

“He was one helluva teammate. I’m going to miss him.”

Any sentimentality between the Panthers and the ones that got away will be placed on the back burner Monday, when the puck drops on Game 1 at Scotiabank Arena.

Yet the names Stolarz, Ekman-Larsson and Lorentz — each more critical to the success of the ’25 Leafs than the ’24 Cats — will forever be engraved in the same block as the frenemies they face this week.

“That story gets to endure in our locker room for the men that played,” Maurice said. “So, they still are a big part of that story, and I’m happy they’ve been able to find a place where their opportunity and their input to the success that Toronto Maple Leafs is really important.”

So important that Bobby McMann already began picking Stolarz’s brain about the Panthers’ approach while the two Leafs walked out of Canadian Tire Centre Thursday night.

So important that Lorentz is already parroting Florida’s pre-series mindset — Expect every round to go seven — in Leafs headquarters.

So important that Toronto coach Craig Berube gives a sly smile when asked if he’s gathering Round 2 intel from his ’24 ring-bearers: “I’ve had discussions with them…. There is things that you might not know. More mindset things, being in the locker room and around the team.”

Like a ring, there is no break in the bond that encircles a championship team.

But like a ring, those memories, those warm-bath feelings can be safely tucked away in a drawer and ignored for a couple weeks.

As the Maple Leafs edition of Stolarz said of Bobrovsky: “At the end of the day, he’s on the dark side now.”

If there was a sharp difference between the first and second time the ex-Cats returned to Florida, just wait ’til the third time.

More from Sportsnet

Panthers ready to face trio of ex-teammates in series against Maple Leafs

Maple Leafs’ Mitch Marner misses practice due to birth of baby boy