The Florida Panthers’ crease is about to look a lot different, and Jacob Markstrom is right at the center of it.
With Sergei Bobrovsky headed to the Toronto Maple Leafs after a seven-year run in South Florida that included a pair of Stanley Cups, Florida turned to a familiar name to fill the void. The Panthers acquired Markstrom from the New Jersey Devils, bringing back the goaltender they drafted in the second round, 31st overall, in the 2008 NHL Draft.
Markstrom is 36 now, and a lot has changed since his first stint with the Panthers. On Wednesday, he joined The Dan LeBatard Show and said the return still feels meaningful.
“It’s a privilege and I’m super excited to be back here, to see what Mr. Vinnie Viola has done with this organization, and what Bill Zito and Paul Maurice have done with this team,” Markstrom said. “You see how hockey has grown in South Florida and the Fort Lauderdale area, it’s amazing to be back here and its completely different from when I was here the last time.”
It has been 12 years since Florida traded Markstrom to the Vancouver Canucks in March of 2014, the move that brought Roberto Luongo back to the Panthers. Since then, Markstrom has logged 535 NHL games across three teams, and he says that experience has reshaped his game.
“I’ve learned a lot, it would be weird if I didn’t,” he said with a smile. “When you come in here and move to North America as a 20-year-old, it’s a lot different than being 36 and played over 500 games in the league and played on four different teams, you pick up a lot. You have a lot of coaches and teammates and goalie coaches that you try to learn and take the positive from everyone, and then try to make it your own and build your game.
“So I think the toolbox is a lot bigger, and I’ve got a lot more tools in it now then when I was here, coming in with an empty suitcase, and now it’s full.”
LeBatard also pressed Markstrom on the pressure that comes with playing goal, calling it “generally terrifying” and asking him to explain “the real insanities that are part of your job.”
Markstrom didn’t dodge the point.
“I think the goaltending position in general is…if you win the game, you’re doing your job, and if you lose the game, it’s the goalie’s fault. That’s kinda the public opinion of people that don’t really know that much hockey.
“If a goalie makes a mistake, it’s in the back of the net. If somebody writing an essay or writing something on a keyboard and presses the wrong key, you just delete and put the right letter in. As a goalie, it’s 20,000 people in the stands cheering or booing, and that’s kind of our job and that’s why I love it.”
Markstrom’s full interview with the LeBatard Show crew begins around the 2:20:30 mark.
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