George Richards, FHN Publisher
When Philippe Desrosiers arrived at BB&T Center Monday morning, he spotted Florida Panthers GM Bill Zito and Roberto Luongo talking.
Knowing that the Panthers now have five goalies on the team, including himself, Desrosiers quickly surmised his time with the Panthers was coming to an end.
“I thought I was getting sent down,” he said.
Desrosiers wasn’t going anywhere but to the ice.
The Panthers started rookie Spencer Knight Monday night against the Stars, but Desrosiers suited up for his first NHL game as Knight’s backup.
Goalie coach Robb Tallas gave him the news.
“He told me I had been good all year but unfortunately we had too many goalies so we’re going to send you … to the bench tonight,” Desrosiers recalled Monday.
“I was like, ‘Oh, thank God.’ I was so nervous for a bit.”
Said Joel Quenneville: “I think he was almost in tears, really. It meant a lot to him. He was thrilled to death. Tallas had the best delivery I have ever seen.”
As Desrosiers came out of the tunnel onto the ice for morning skate, he was given a rousing ovation by the equipment guys and assistant coaches who were out early.
The team’s photographers trained their cameras on Desrosiers as he lumbered in his goalie gear out onto the ice.
Desrosiers spent much of the practice in the net to the left of the team bench, the starter’s net so to speak, leading speculation among (at least one of) the gathered media that Desrosiers would get his first NHL start against Dallas.
While Desrosiers did not play Monday night, just being part of the NHL experience for the first time in his six-year pro career was a highlight.
The Panthers even gave him the ‘rookie lap’ as he came out by himself before the rest of the team joined him for warmups.
Since Dallas drafted Desrosiers in the second round of the 2013 draft, he has toiled in the minor leagues playing in places such as Austin, Boise, Norfolk and Springfield, Mass.
Monday night, he got to ‘play’ in Sunrise.
At 25, Desrosiers probably will get more of these opportunities in the future but Monday was his first crack at an NHL game.
The Panthers ended up beating the Stars 5-4 in overtime as Knight made 25 saves and became the youngest goalie in league history to start his career 4-0.
“It has been a long road,” he said, “but I am excited for it.”
In 2019, the Stars did not offer Dersrosiers a qualifying offer and he became a free agent.
One reason Dallas declined to make him an offer was it had drafted Jake Oettinger in the first round. He ended up coming on in relief of Anton Khudobin in the second period Monday.
With Dallas cutting Desrosiers loose, he signed with the Panthers with Florida slotting him in as the backup to Chris Driedger in Springfield.
Although Driedger ended up with the Panthers, Desrosiers spent the entire season with the Thunderbirds going 16-10-2 and earning another contract with the Panthers.
Desrosiers also spent summer camp with the Panthers and traveled with them to the postseason bubble in Toronto.
“He had a career year last year and is a guy that competes every day,’’ Geordie Kinnear, Springfield’s coach last season, told the Charlotte Checkers website.
“Players love to play for him because of his ultra-competitive attitude in games and in practices. He has that ‘every-dayer’ mentality. He’s come a long way and he’d be the first one to admit that he’s still got a lot of work to do, but when you’re willing to put the work in and are very coachable, you can get there. He had a good year last year and he wants to be able to build on that.”
Coming into training camp, the third/taxi squad goalie job was up for bid and the kept Desrosiers, opting to send Sam Montembeault to their shared AHL team in Syracuse to get the playing time.
Desrosiers got to live the NHL life when it came to traveling and getting into some team practices.
Most of his time, however, was spent backstopping the taxi squad workouts.
“He was with the squad all year and every single day worked with them,’’ Quenneville said. “Everybody else got a chance to play so it is his turn. He’s done a good job of being part of that group and they have been really good for the chemistry of our group.”
It was not glamourous, no, but it was better than nothing.
On Monday, the Panthers rewarded him for his hard work.
“It’s awesome and it is definitely one of those feel-good moments for our group,” said Ryan Lomberg, who spent his fair share of time on the taxi squad before finding a regular spot with the big squad.
“I am sure he is more excited, but he is a guy who comes to the rink every day and is one of the, if not the hardest worker. He shows up with a smile every day. He got a standing ovation when he came back in the room today. Safe to say, we’re all really excited for him.”
Said Desrosiers: “My job, I guess, wasn’t easy but it was a lot of fun. My job is to make sure guys are ready to perform in games, do whatever I can to make them ready and just stop pucks. That was my job all year and I enjoyed it. I guess today is the day to reward me.”
Desrosiers had himself a fantastic junior career, one reason Dallas selected him in the second round.
Playing for Rimouski Oceanic, Desrosiers won a QJMHL title. At the World Junior U-18s, he led Team Canada to Gold with a 5-0 run.
His teammates on that Canadian squad: Connor McDavid, Sam Reinhart and Shea Theodore.
Oh, Sam Bennett and Carter Verhaeghe were on that team as well.
Monday, the Panthers had Desrosiers in uniform but not those two.
“I am really excited, it’s nice to be around the guys are really happy for me,” Desrosiers said. “The most important thing is to win. I have worked hard with Robb Tallas all year and I am ready for this.”
ON DECK: LIGHTNING AT PANTHERS
When: Saturday, 7
Where: BB&T Center, Sunrise
Tickets: AVAILABLE HERE
Season series: Florida leads 3-2-1
TV: BS-FLA, Fox Sports Go streaming
Radio: WQAM 560-AM