Exploring the legend of ‘Playoff Bob’: What Sergei Bobrovsky’s teammates (and the stats) say
In the regular season, Sergei Bobrovsky is known as one of the top goaltenders in the NHL, as evidenced by his nomination for the Vezina Trophy, which he has won twice before.
In the Stanley Cup playoffs, he’s known simply as “Playoff Bob.”
Who is Playoff Bob?
“I mean, I don’t even know if there’s one word to describe him,” Florida Panthers defenseman Brandon Montour said. “Focus. That’s a good one, I guess.”
“Ultimate compete. Ultimate preparation,” Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad said. “His calm and coolness in the net under any circumstances.”
“He’s just on another level,” Florida captain Aleksander Barkov said.
That’s the perception of Playoff Bob. It’s reinforced by incredible postseason saves like his diving stop in the first round with his back turned to center ice, which was immortalized on a T-shirt as “The Bobbery.”
But the reality of Playoff Bob, at least in the 2024 postseason, is different from the perception.
Sure, he’s 7-2 for the Panthers, who are one victory away from advancing to the Eastern Conference finals for the second straight season. He has a 2.55 goals-against average, which ranks him fifth among goalies with at least six postseason appearances. But those are largely team-driven stats for a goaltender.
From an individual perspective, Bobrovsky has a .892 save percentage, which ranks eighth out of nine goalies with at least six appearances. Only Stuart Skinner of the Edmonton Oilers ranks lower (.877), a goaltender whose status for Game 4 against the Vancouver Canucks is uncertain due to his ineffectiveness.
Money Puck has Bobrovsky at 0.5 goals saved above expected. Stathletes has him at minus-1.3 goals saved above expected in all situations. Natural Stat Trick has Bobrovsky at minus-1 goals saved above average. His save percentage vs. expected save percentage (-0.70) is 11th in the postseason.
So based on all of that, who is Playoff Bob?
“He’s at a point in his career where he should be oblivious to the stats,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. “They don’t matter. His stats won’t be good, but his play is fantastic.”
THIS IS BOBROVSKY’S 14th NHL season. His NHL run started in 2010-11 with the Philadelphia Flyers, who signed him as a free agent out of the KHL. After two seasons in Philadelphia, and one season under big-ticket free agent signing Ilya Bryzgalov, the Flyers traded him to the Columbus Blue Jackets, where Bobrovsky blossomed: He won the Vezina Trophy in his first season in Columbus (2012-13) and then again in the 2016-17 season.
He was signed away from the Blue Jackets by then-Florida GM Dale Tallon on a seven-year, $70 million contract with full trade protection. The size of that contract weighed on him during his first couple of seasons in Florida, but Bobrovsky was a big reason the Panthers became a Stanley Cup contender.
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