NJ native pro athlete sees his dream come true

Unless you're a hockey fan you may not have heard the name Anthony Stolarz. He is a New Jersey native who made his way into the NHL.

Born in Edison and raised in Jackson, Stolarz known as Stoli the goalie, has had a long hard road to get to his ultimate goal and dream this week.

Stolarz's team the Florida Panthers won the Stanley Cup Championship Monday night beating the Edmonton Oilers in 7 games.

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He wasn't the starting goalie and he'd probably prefer to have that championship with the New Jersey Devils, but he got it nonetheless.

He grew up a Devil's fan and a great admirer of legendary Devil's goalie Martin Brodeur. Stoli played ice hockey for Jackson Memorial High School and the NJ Devil' Junior Ice Hockey team as a youth.

He was drafted by the Philadelphia Flyers in the 2012 draft and finally got to play with them in the NHL on November 27, 2016, in a 5–3 victory over the Calgary Flames. 

It's been a long hard road for the 6' 6" goaltender to finally get to the ultimate goal of winning a Stanley Cup. He had a standout year as one of the best goalies in the league, starter or backup.

In 27 appearances, he skated to a 16-7-2 record while recording a stellar .925 save percentage and tidy 2.03 goals against average.

Those are very good numbers in a very tough league. He's been through multiple knee surgeries, trades across the country, season-interrupting pandemics, and finally the ultimate goal of playing with a solid winning team and getting that much-coveted Stanley Cup.

He'll get his name engraved on it forever and more than likely even get to take it home to New Jersey this summer. He was the first New Jersey-born goalie to play in the NHL and now the first one to win a Stanley Cup. Congratulations to, and we're all Jersey Proud of 'Stoli the Goalie'.

Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Dennis Malloy only.

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