From Hero to Hot Spot

It took 12 years in the NHL for goaltender John Vanbiesbrouck to achieve the balance of personal and professional contentment that helped him carry the Florida Panthers to unprecedented heights this season.

“You have to have the peace within yourself in order to play at the top of your game and fulfill yourself. It’s a matter of being able to understand yourself,” said Vanbiesbrouck, the Panthers’ first pick in the 1993 expansion draft. “The No. 1 thing is being able to put things in perspective. There’s not a lot of times in my career that I’ve been able to put things in perspective.”

His hard-won peace, however, was disturbed by the Colorado Avalanche in the first two games of the Stanley Cup finals. Colorado is close to making a mockery of the NHL’s showcase series, having won the first two games at home by a combined score of 11-2 and having sent Vanbiesbrouck to the bench after one period Thursday. Vanbiesbrouck’s goals-against average, a sparkling 2.68 this season, is a bloated 5.25 in the finals.

Only if Vanbiesbrouck regains his equilibrium tonight, when the series resumes at Miami Arena, will the Panthers have any hope of withstanding the Colorado avalanche threatening to engulf them.

“It was a long plane ride home,” Vanbiesbrouck said Friday after the Panthers’ practice. “When you’re in the Stanley Cup finals, it may be a little harder to put things in perspective, but you have to. . . .

“This is absolutely the biggest challenge I’ve ever faced. We’ll see how we react. We have to try and forget [Thursday’s loss]. It’s going to leave a bad taste in our mouths, but we’re going to be home and have our fans behind us and hopefully they’ll help us get going.”

Vanbiesbrouck played well in Game 1, although he and the Panthers later complained about the timing of standby referee Don Koharski’s demand he change the tape on the knob of his stick from red to white to conform with league rules. The Panthers claim it came only 10 minutes before the opening faceoff, shaking his concentration by forcing him to alter his pregame ritual.

The incident might have been forgotten if Panther officials hadn’t kept it alive by suggesting the Avalanche told the NHL about the infraction. “The only reason Koharski would come forward is if someone put pressure on him,” Florida goaltending coach Bill Smith said. “He’s too classy for that.”

Vanbiesbrouck said he put the incident behind him, but Smith acknowledged Vanbiesbrouck was off his game Thursday.

“He kind of lost control of himself, and why leave him in to get bombed because we have to come back next game,” Smith said. “This game happened yesterday. He’s got to think about tomorrow.

Thanks to Smith and psychologist Paul Henry, Vanbiesbrouck broke a late-season slump to record a career-high 26 victories. Vanbiesbrouck, who made his debut at 18 with the New York Rangers but didn’t stay with the team full time until 1984-85, was always considered a top-notch goalie. However, he played more than 60 games for the Rangers only in 1985-86, when he won the Vezina Trophy as the NHL’s top goalie and led the Rangers to the conference finals. Before this season, he had only 13 playoff victories.

The Panthers barged into the playoffs because of their team defense and advanced to the finals because Vanbiesbrouck stymied the Boston Bruins, Philadelphia Flyers and the Pittsburgh Penguins. They will stay in contention only if Vanbiesbrouck rebounds, and the Avalanche is prepared for that.

“He’s probably going to be fired up in the next game,” Avalanche center Peter Forsberg said. “We’ve got to keep creating traffic in front of him and make it difficult for him.”

Asked if he will be confident today, Vanbiesbrouck said to ask again after the game. “This team has an inner confidence that speaks for itself,” he said, “but the most important factor is getting the job done. It doesn’t matter how. It doesn’t matter how many. It doesn’t matter who gets the credit, who’s the hero or who’s the goat. All we care about is getting the job done.”