^ Posted by Patrick Williams
Zack Dalby He describes himself in his Twitter bio as a “frequent U-haul renter,” and that would be a pretty fair description.
Years of packing up and moving around North America brought him back to North Carolina, where he planted some of his early hockey roots.
Call it a dream deferred for Dalpe, whose career is in a very different place than it was 12 years ago. This week, he’s spending his time at Tar Heel State in Raleigh, where the Florida Panthers take on the Carolina Hurricanes in the National Hockey League’s Eastern Conference Final.
This one is for all the AHL veterans who have been chasing their NHL dreams for years.
“I really don’t know how to describe it,” Dalby said from his hotel room in Florida this week.
I don’t want to sound too vulgar. He added with a long pause. “I know that’s not a leading term, but that’s all I have going for it. Life in the fast lane.”
In 2011, Dalpe was stationed at North Carolina as a junior with the Charlotte Checkers on their way to the AHL Eastern Conference Final. Dalpe was a second-round pick in the 2008 NHL Draft, he was 21 years old, and he had just earned a spot on the AHL All-Rookie Team. That season’s Calder Cup bid fell through, but Dalby laid a lot of the foundations for what became a long career as a regulation paste player, the kind of personality who could lead a club’s prospects in the AHL while also filling an NHL roster when necessary.
Today Dalpe is 33 years old, a highly respected figure in the AHL, captain with the Checkers, married with children, and homeowner in Charlotte. Checkers is now affiliated with Florida.
But not everything is different.
Paul Morris He quickly gained admiration at the time for the tireless game played by Dalpe. Then Hurricanes head coach Morris and Dalby continued their tortuous journeys over the past 10 years, meeting again with the Panthers this season.
“I feel like he brings out the best in us as a group,” Dalby said of Morris. “He knows what gets us moving. He knows what makes us laugh. He knows what kind of calm calms us down in times when he can get tense. He’s a coach who coaches you. It sounds weird, but some coaches are motivators. He’s a motivator and a coach.”
“I’m definitely looking forward to his one-liners and speeches. They’re really funny… He has some good stuff.”
Dalpe played 14 games for Florida during the regular season, the most in the NHL since the 2014-15 season when he was with Buffalo. By April, he had settled down again with the Checkers as they prepared to start the Calder Cup Playoffs.
Then the call came. The Panthers needed him back.
“There was really no indication that I would play right away,” said Dalby. “You’re back in being an extra, which is good. But you’re also kind of torn, because your teammates were playing in Charlotte in the playoffs, so you didn’t really know how it felt, but you were immersed in the two teams’ battles.”
Then an injury struck the Panthers. Dalpe dressed for Game 4 of the first round series against Boston.
He has not left the Florida squad since.
By the time Game 6 of the series against the record-setting Bruins got around, the Panthers had already been hanging around longer than expected by many, though they still trailed three games to two. Boston was about to end the series with a 4-3 lead in the third period when Dalby scored his first Stanley Cup goal.
The Panthers went on to win Game 6, then completed the upset of the game with a Game 7 victory in Boston.
“That belief within the group is always there,” Dalby said. “The outside world may not have believed it, but we have a room from hell, and I say that in all sincerity. I’ve been to a lot of dressing rooms. This is a room from hell.”
After defeating Toronto in the second round, the Panthers reached the Conference Finals for the first time in 27 years. And even with more than 700 professional games under his belt, this spring has been a learning time for Dalpe.
“It feels weird in a good way,” said Dalby, whose only previous Stanley Cup experience was three games with Minnesota in 2016. “I feel like I’m still learning a lot… how to approach the game as I need to play, how to handle it within team side.
“You’ll always have a good seat, a moving and lively seat during the good times, right? How important it is to keep the same mindset during the not-so-good times.” [Maurice] He’s really good at it, and the whole team got involved. There is nothing negative to say. And it’s not like he’s breastfeeding us. It gives you confidence.”
That feeling hit Dalpe in Game 2 against the Maple Leafs. He did not get into the shooting lane on Toronto’s first goal 2:20 into the contest. Then a penalty kick in his second shift set up another goal just 2:50 later.
“I thought the first two goals were my fault,” said Dalby. “It’s like everyone came up to me and told me not to worry about it and settled on me. Then Mo told me to breathe. He calls everyone ‘baby.’ And he said to me, ‘Breathe, baby.'”
“It feels like you have a lot of self-esteem on the team. I hold myself as high as everyone else, and everyone came up to me. And it wasn’t like saying a cookie cutter. They all took the time to honestly say something.”
“I called my dad afterward and said, ‘I was running through the concrete of these guys. “
A native of Paris, Ontario, not far from Toronto, Dalpe heard a lot from his hometown friends during the Panthers-Leafs Series.
“They all wear ‘Core Four’ jerseys, a reference to the Maple Leafs,” said Dalby. Austin MathewsAnd Mitch MarnerAnd William Nylander And John Tavares. “They don’t have a Dalpe shirt.”
Through it all, Dalby has been living out of a hotel while his wife, Cassandra, to Charlotte with their three children. His family has come to Florida to visit and experience this playoff run together, and having him with him was a welcome diversion from thinking about non-stop hockey.
“She did a good job of making the kids realize how big this moment is,” explained Dalby. “They obviously like my dad. They obviously know I play in the NHL, but my wife brings up the fact that it’s an NHL playoff. To see her, she’s flying in with three kids. You take the kids out of their element, so they get sick. She doesn’t complain at all. She wants them.” Just to be here for [see] I’m playing. I feel forever indebted to her.
“It was really special then seeing them in the stands and watching me score. I took that penalty in Toronto, and the first thing my kids said to me after the game was, ‘That wasn’t a good penalty, Dad.'”
Dalb was back with several of his teammates after heading back south when the Charlotte playoff run came to an end. They serve as extras on Florida’s roster and watch their captain go after the Stanley Cup.
“They tweet by the hair on my face,” Dalby said, “but they keep it soft. I’m not a big Florida room vocal guy, but I do have a knack for babbling, so I keep all my words when I see them in the hotel.”
No matter how long this playoff run lasts, Dalby will bring back plenty of memories.
“Just the reaction, everyone’s been so supportive of me, it’s been amazing,” said Dalby. “I like to think it takes a village to raise a hockey player. In this case, I feel like it’s a city. Just a grind in my career… That’s a nice payoff.”
Patrick Williams has been in the American Hockey League for nearly two decades for outlets including NHL.com, Sportsnet, TSN, The Hockey News, SiriusXM NHL Network Radio, and SLAM! Sports, and she is currently the co-host of Hockey news on the “A” podcast. He was awarded the James H. Ellery Memorial Award from the AHL for his excellent coverage of the league in 2016.