‘Deep down I wasn’t happy’: How Kenley Jansen has rediscovered himself in Boston
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Joon Lee, ESPN
WINNING THE WORLD Series in 2020 was supposed to be one of the crowning achievements of Kenley Jansen‘s career. Instead, it marked a low point. Jansen struggled throughout the Los Angeles Dodgers‘ postseason run, eventually losing his job as their closer, and he received intense criticism from fans, writers and on social media.
When things were at their best, Jansen rode the highs of success, letting external validation define his self-worth. But as he struggled on the biggest stage of his career, he said, the places where he built his self-esteem now fed his deepest insecurities. Critics were calling for his job, saying he couldn’t get the Dodgers over the hump, that he hurt the team’s chances of winning a championship. Jansen spiraled, posting a 5.14 ERA in seven innings in October. It was starter Julio Urias, not Jansen, who finished the clinching Game 6 against the Tampa Bay Rays.
“Even though we won the World Series, deep down I wasn’t happy,” Jansen said. “I wasn’t happy because as much as my teammates picked me up, the responsibility I was supposed to carry, I didn’t take that responsibility. Someone had to do it for me.”
Two years later, Jansen weighed signing with Boston during the offseason. He questioned whether the move was the right one — not just for his family and career, but for his mental health. Jansen considered the intense scrutiny the Red Sox were under following a last-place finish in 2022. Going there almost seemed counterintuitive. And yet, Jansen is now in the best mental headspace of his career, having his best start to a season in years, with a 0.77 ERA and 1.17 FIP, fifth best among all relievers in baseball. His nine saves tie him for third. On Wednesday night, Jansen recorded his 400th career save, a total reached by only six other pitchers in baseball history. At 35 years old, he’s firmly back on a path some around the game believe will lead to Cooperstown.
The moment that turned Jansen around didn’t happen on the field; it wasn’t a gut-punching blown save or a confidence-shattering home run allowed.
Instead, it was a conversation with his therapist in 2021, who had worked with Jansen long enough to know what he needed: a reality check. She wanted to help Jansen rebuild the confidence he had lost — and used language more common for a baseball clubhouse than a doctor’s office to get through to the veteran.
“You’re being a b—-,” Jansen said his therapist told him. “This is a b—- mindset.”
They were harsh words, and a technique that certainly wouldn’t work for everyone, but the message resonated with Jansen: He was prioritizing others’ opinions of him over his own.
“I needed to own that it was all bulls—,” Jansen said. “I was being a b—-.”
WHEN GIANNA JANSEN met her husband, he lived and breathed baseball. Nothing made him happier. Whenever Kenley did anything related to the game, there was a smile on his face. But during the 2019 season, Gianni noticed a switch. Kenley struggled more than he ever had, racking up eight blown saves, the most of his career. And as he became more and more consumed by negativity, Gianni could feel Kenley’s sadness as he left for work.
“Baseball is everything, it’s the law,” Gianni said. “Kenley was supposed to be the last person out there. He needed to make every fan happy, the team happy. The happiness, he was trying to bring it to everybody to try to finish it, but he was starting to let his mind dominate his body.”
The pressure mounted over the next year, especially as Kenley struggled during the COVID-19 season and the Dodgers’ World Series run. The noise got so bad Gianni would log on to Kenley’s Instagram, deleting comments before he could see them. But those comments became so overwhelming they proved impossible to avoid.
“I was reading everything on the internet,” Kenley said. “You feed off of all of that good stuff, but you don’t realize you’re playing with a flame. And as soon as I had a bad one, I got burned. I couldn’t handle it.”
Before the 2021 season, Gianni insisted Kenley start seeing a therapist. As the child of two bodybuilders and a track and field athlete herself, Gianni knew the importance of mental maintenance in someone’s athletic performance. She told Kenley he wasn’t living up to his full potential because he wasn’t working on his mental focus. His natural cutter still remained among the most dominant pitches in baseball, but his mindset was falling apart on the mound.
So the couple began searching for someone who would understand Kenley’s journey from growing up in Curacao, an island with a population of 152,000, to playing for one of the most visible franchises in North American sports. He knew he needed to shift his source of self-confidence away from the internet and back to himself.
“I started to get disappointed with all of it that I didn’t want to do this anymore,” Kenley said. “But I really didn’t want to let the industry take the joy of baseball away from it.”
Through Jansen’s agents, Kenley matched with a clinical therapist who works with a lot of athletes. Their work started with a simple rule: No more reading social media comments. He started setting better boundaries. When he opened Twitter and saw his own face, he stopped clicking on the stories.
“If I want to see my own face, I’ll go in the mirror and see my face,” he said.
He began focusing on how much he loved the game.
“You carry your love for the game and nothing else matters,” he said. “And when you realize it’s OK that you’re not OK and then you go search for what you love and do best, I started having the time of my life.”
THESE DAYS, THE Jansens live across the country from each other. Gianni takes care of the kids in Los Angeles, where they go to school, while Kenley lives in Boston. They start every morning with the same routine, swapping good morning texts, followed by a motivational video. Some days it’s the words of the late Kobe Bryant, other days it’s from Shaquille O’Neal, or even Denzel Washington.
“It depends on the day,” Gianni said. “Depends on the mood.”
Jansen joined the Red Sox as Boston sought to rebuild a bullpen that had featured the fifth-worst reliever ERA in 2022. But even as the team prioritized signing relievers, adding righty Chris Martin and lefty Joely Rodriguez, Boston originally did not plan on pursuing Jansen — nor did Jansen see the Red Sox, whose fan base’s fervor rivals the Dodgers’, as the right fit initially.
But after notching a National League-best 41 saves with the Atlanta Braves last season and rebuilding his confidence, Jansen began to see the intensity of the market as a plus. And when the Red Sox checked in and found that Jansen’s price aligned with their evaluation, Boston jumped, agreeing on a two-year, $32 million deal.
Jansen and Red Sox manager Alex Cora have talked about what it means to play in Boston, and for the skipper, having a closer he knows he can depend on to get three of a game’s biggest outs is something he doesn’t take for granted.
“You have the lead in the ninth and it’s over,” Cora said. “All you can do as a manager is give the vote to the big guy and finish it. From my end, in ’19 we had Craig [Kimbrel], [Matt Barnes] did his thing when he was doing well in ’21, and it’s a lot easier to manage a game with an established closer.”
As Jansen reworked his mental approach, he revamped his workout routine. He began working with basketball trainer Melissa Livingston, who had more experience with bodies like Jansen’s 6-foot-5, 265-pound frame, and focused his offseason on reshaping his body and taking his kids to the park.
“We live in Los Angeles, but we have no idea where the party places are,” Gianni said. “For Kenley, it was working out and family this offseason.”
And while he’s reinvented his mental approach, Jansen has returned to his old approach on the mound, throwing cutters 79.3% of the time, his highest mark since 2018, while decreasing his dependence on his slider, down from 22.5% to 9.1%, his lowest mark since 2017. Jansen said his mental approach on the mound has helped him stop overthinking, allowing him to throw each pitch with more conviction. That’s reflected in his average velocity of 95.3 mph, the hardest of his career and the first time since 2016 he’s topped 94 mph.
“I encourage everybody to go to therapy,” Jansen said. “You’re going to be at your best level.”
With his work in therapy, what ultimately sealed the deal for Jansen to sign with Boston was the very thing that nearly led to his demise in Los Angeles: the intense spotlight on the team, from fans to writers to talk radio.
“I loved playing in Atlanta, but there wasn’t as much scrutiny there as in Boston,” Jansen said. “With fewer media around, you could slump in your chair.”
These days when he walks through the clubhouse, Jansen looks at the large media contingent standing around in the Red Sox clubhouse. With more eyes in the room, he reminds himself to walk with better posture, and that he wouldn’t want it any other way.
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Kristen Shilton
Florida Panthers forward Sam Bennett was named the Conn Smythe Trophy winner as the most valuable player in the 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs.
Bennett was awarded the distinction after Florida defeated Edmonton 5-1 in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final on Tuesday night. It was the Panthers’ second consecutive Cup victory, and Bennett played an integral role in helping Florida achieve the feat.
The veteran led the NHL playoff field in goals scored (15) and was tied for second among Panthers in points (22) through 23 games, which included five goals and six points in the Final. Bennett wasn’t only Florida’s best offensive player though; he also delivered a suffocating defensive performance and furious forechecking effort that made Florida formidable in each round of the postseason.
“I always believed in myself,” said Bennett, who played eight seasons in Calgary before being traded to the Panthers in 2021. “I always knew I could be more than I was when I first got traded. But it’s all a dream I guess until you actually do it. I don’t think I knew how difficult it would be and how much work it would take. My whole life switched when I got traded here, and super grateful to be here. I don’t take that for granted.”
The 28-year-old’s tenacity and consistency combined to make Bennett a standout every game but especially in the Final, where he elevated the Panthers at both ends of the ice to stifle the Oilers’ attack and lift the Panthers to a second straight title.
The career-best showing couldn’t have come at a more opportune time for Bennett. The center is set to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1 and is expected to have several suitors if he doesn’t re-sign with the Panthers.
“For Sam Bennett to be here today with this group of guys, to have the success he’s had, there’s a lot of heaviness that he had on the road,” Florida coach Paul Maurice said. “There’s a lot of work that had to go into it. He just didn’t show up here and say, ‘OK, feed me and I’ll show you how good I am.’ There’s more to it.”
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Greg Wyshynski
SUNRISE, Fla. — After 14 years, Brad Marchand was reunited with the Stanley Cup. He lifted and kissed the silver chalice moments after the Florida Panthers won Game 6 against the Edmonton Oilers, 5-1, closing out their series and capturing the Cup for a second straight season on Tuesday night.
“It feels completely different. I have so much more respect and appreciation for how difficult it was to get here, how hard it is and the amount of things that need to go right to win. Everything has to line up perfectly,” said Marchand, who won the Stanley Cup with the Boston Bruins in 2011. “My situation’s a perfect example of that. I shouldn’t have been here, but it worked out.”
Marchand, 37, was a driving force behind the Panthers’ Stanley Cup win. He had 10 goals and 10 assists in 23 games, skating a plus-17 with linemates Anton Lundell and Eetu Luostarinen. While he didn’t score in Game 6, Marchand had 6 goals in 6 games in the Stanley Cup Final with two game-winning goals.
“He’s been a big-game player his whole career. In 2011, he was arguably our best player,” said Shawn Thornton, Marchand’s teammate on the Bruins who is now a business executive for the Panthers. “I wasn’t surprised to see the magic he was making. I don’t think the age thing is in his head.”
Marchand spent 16 NHL seasons with the Bruins until a contract extension impasse led to an NHL trade deadline move to the Panthers. It was a surreal moment for Marchand and the Panthers, as Florida had eliminated the Bruins from the 2023 and 2024 playoffs. Last postseason, Panthers center Sam Bennett injured Marchand with a sucker punch. On Tuesday night, the skated the Stanley Cup as teammates.
“As soon as he got traded here, he chirped me in the group chat instantly for our history and the last playoffs,” recalled Bennett, who won the Conn Smythe Trophy as NHL playoff MVP.
“What he’s meant to this team … I truly don’t think we win a Stanley Cup without him. His leadership, his will to win, it’s inspiring. I was telling him before every game, ‘We’re going to follow you.’ And we did. He was a dog every night. He for sure could have won this trophy,” Bennett said. “He’s a better player and person than I ever knew and I’m grateful that I got to play with him.”
Marchand said going from nemesis to teammate is a tribute to the chemistry of the Panthers.
“It just shows you that once you become part of a group and you get into this environment … when you’re playing on the same team with each other, you create such an incredible bond,” he said. “They already had an unbelievable culture that the new guys were able to kind of come into and just buy in and enjoy it and embrace it. They made it very easy.”
Florida general manager Bill Zito said Marchand also did his part to build team chemistry.
“I’ve been telling everyone that as much as he did on the ice, it’s what he did in the room that matters,” he said. “If you came in this morning, you wouldn’t have known who the new guy was. That says as much about who he is as a teammate and a hockey player as his extraordinary performance.”
For example, the Panthers started a tradition in the Stanley Cup Playoffs where they would shoot the plastic rats fans tossed on the ice after victories – a decades-long tradition for the team – at Marchand as they left for the dressing room. Even as Florida celebrated the Stanley Cup win, the tradition continued: Forward Sam Reinhart, who scored four goals in the victory, reached down and threw a rat at Marchand as he was kissing the Cup.
“It still felt heavy, that’s for sure,” said Marchand of the Cup. “It’s pretty incredible to do it here at home. It’s so many people here that I love and that had been a huge impact on being part of this, so it’s an incredible feeling.”
Marchand now faces an uncertain future as an unrestricted free agent this offseason. But after the best playoff series of his career in the Stanley Cup Final, he’ll have plenty of suitors.
Florida closed out the Oilers with two straight wins, both of them defined by early offensive and consistently good defense.
The Panthers took the lead just 4:36 into the first period on an incredible individual effort from Reinhart. Oilers defenseman Evan Bouchard passed the puck right to Reinhart just outside of the Edmonton zone. Reinhart skated into the zone, turned defenseman Mattias Ekholm inside out and beat goalie Stuart Skinner while falling down for his 8th goal of the playoffs. Skinner had returned as the starter after being benched in Game 5.
It would remain that way through the rest of the first period, which pitted two nervous teams against each other on specious ice, until Matthew Tkachuk scored his 8th of the playoffs. Using a perfect screen from Lundell in front of Skinner, Tkachuk’s shot from between the circles sailed into the back of the net for a 2-0 lead.
It continued a string of early dominance for the Panthers in the series. Florida scored at least 2 goals in the first period of all six games of the series and outscored the Oilers 9-0 in the last four games of the series.
The Panthers relied on goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky for 10 saves in the second period, who had help in the zone when he needed it. Then Reinhart struck again at 17:31 of the second period, as Aleksander Barkov turned a lackadaisical rebound by Skinner into a shot that banked off Reinhart and into the net for a 3-0 lead.
Reinhart completed his hat trick at 13:26 of the third period with an empty-net goal. Just 1:29 later, he scored his fourth goal of the game into another empty Edmonton net, giving him 11 goals on the postseason.
As the seconds ticked down, the Panthers began jumping over the boards to begin their celebration. The Panthers first team to repeat as Stanley Cup champions by beating the same team in both years since the Montreal Canadiens defeated the Bruins in the 1977 and 1978.
It was their third straight trip to the Stanley Cup Final. Does that make them a dynasty?
“Hell, yeah,” Tkachuk said. “Absolutely.”
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David Purdum
Odds to win the 2026 Stanley Cup are already up at sportsbooks, and there is disagreement in the betting market regarding which team should be the favorite heading into the offseason.
Depending on what sportsbook you look at, the two-time defending champion Florida Panthers, Edmonton Oilers, Carolina Hurricanes or Colorado Avalanche are next season’s Stanley Cup favorites.
The Panthers finished off the Oilers 5-1 in Game 6 on Tuesday night to lift the Cup for a second straight season. But oddsmakers aren’t convinced Florida is the clear-cut favorite to make it three in a row.
At ESPN BET, the Panthers, Oilers and Avs were co-favorites, each listed at +700 as of Tuesday. Colorado had been the outright favorite last week at +650, before the sportsbook tweaked the Avs’ odds to bring them in line with Florida and Edmonton.
“There’s a lot more questions around the Panthers and Oilers than the Avalanche, who are set to return a majority of their roster and have the benefit of a longer offseason,” Adrian Horton, trading director for ESPN BET, said. “Colorado should also enter next season healthy and fresh, while Florida and Edmonton have accumulated wear and tear from consecutive deep playoff runs.”
DraftKings had the Oilers as next season’s favorites, while FanDuel had the Hurricanes as the favorites Tuesday, ahead of Game 6.
Horton pointed to questions about what the Panthers’ roster will look like after free agency, and he wondered about the toll losing back-to-back Stanley Cups will have on the Oilers.
“The Avs, on the other hand, have 19 out of 23 roster spots under contract, including a healthy Gabriel Landeskog and two of the best players in the world in Cale Makar and Nathan MacKinnon,” Horton said.
The Hurricanes (+800) and Dallas Stars (+900) round out the top-tier of teams in ESPN BET’s odds to win the 2026 Stanley Cup.
The Chicago Blackhawks and San Jose Sharks are the biggest long shots entering the offseason, both listed at 500-1.
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