Confident Stolarz Aims To Prove Everyone Wrong In Flyers Camp/Preseason
VOORHEES - You don't have to be a mathematician to realize that there are five goaltenders on NHL contracts at the Philadelphia Flyers training camp and realistically only four openings up for grabs - two at both the NHL and AHL level.
Brian Elliot and Michal Neuvirth spent the entirety of last season in the NHL with the Flyers. Alex Lyon floated between the NHL and AHL, not looking so out of place at the NHL level. Carter Hart, the organization's highly regarded goaltending prospect, is turning pro this fall.
So where does Anthony Stolarz fit into the Flyers' goaltending logjam?
The 24-year-old goaltender was aiming for redemption heading into last summer after a knee injury cost him his chance at seeing his first playoff action as a pro with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms in the 2016-17 season. An unfortunate freak accident - a simple motion with his leg while sitting in his car just prior to last year's training camp - saw Stolarz repeat the entire rehabilitation process, costing him nearly the entire 2017-18 season.
He was able to appear in four games last season, three of which were with the Flyers' ECHL affiliate Reading Royals, but feels confident and most importantly 100% healthy - having spent the summer training instead of being limited and recovering from a knee surgery.
"The biggest thing for me this summer was getting the symmetry back in my legs, getting that strength and quickness back in the left leg," Stolarz told Inside AHL Hockey after his first practice with the second group at Friday's main training camp. "I got cleared at the end of last year and was good to go, but it was just nice having four months to kind of get everything back. It was nice having a summer to train and not have to rehab, I was doing all the stuff the guys were doing in the gym. It was a good feeling."
There's always the risk of re-injury with knee ailments, but Stolarz said he turned a negative into a positive last season - watching a lot of Flyers and Phantoms games from upstairs and becoming more of a student of the game - picking bits and pieces of things he saw from other goalies to incorporate into his own game.
"There's a little bit of a hurdle you go over early on because I hurt it right around training camp and we're that close to the season," Stolarz explained, adding, "to just kind of be able to overcome this and come back it's huge for me. Obviously, the uncertainty - you can say that about anything. For me, I'm just taking it day-by-day and just happy to be out there."
After a full summer of training in Voorhees, Stolarz said he felt great coming into camp and is aiming to prove to Flyers he can still be the same goalie he was when he went 2-1-1 in seven appearances with the NHL club back in the 2016-17 season, where he posted not only his first and second career NHL wins but also his first NHL shutout to go along with a solid 2.07 goals-against average and .928 save percentage.
"I want to make the decision difficult on management and kind of go out there and show them I still have game left. I'm 24 years old. A 6-foot-6 goalie. I have a lot to offer. Just the biggest thing for me is going out there and showing them that I can be consistent and there's no drop-off from where I was."
Hopefully for Stolarz, the long road he's taken to get back to being able to play the game he loves will end. And a new one will begin, where he'll look to navigate his way through the Flyers' current plethora of NHL-contracted goalies.
"How am I going to hold up in a game? How is this going to happen? I've kind of been there done that. Now I'm just moving forward going out there - having fun."
