Mad Dog

@Bakanekimiwa I hear what you are saying about him wanting to win, and that's probably the only reason I am cutting him *some* slack. But I begin to agree with Aziz that everything points in a direction of Snider looking at nothing but the numbers when ordering Homer to pull a trigger on Bryzgalov. I don’t have proof, but I am willing to bet that the Flyers hardly spent any time scouting Bryzgalov, because if they did, they would’ve realized, as painful as the last playoffs were, they could do at least not worse by going in a different direction. They most definitely did not do much of scouting because Snider didn’t want to risk losing Bryzgalov to another team. He thought high enough of the guy to not only make him an equitable, bit worse yet, succumbing to *his* outrageous demands (because this is what I call this contract). Yes, I agree, that it’s easy to look smart now and say, “I told you so”. But while no one could expect him to be this bad, doing even some surficial evaluation would’ve led to the conclusion that Bryzgalov simply was not worth that much money over such a beyond ridiculous length. It’s insane. It was clearly a hurried, spur-of-the-moment, reactionary move which not only handcuffed the organization for God only knows how many years now, but also hampered a growth of what could be a solid young goaltender (Bob). As to the question whether it was Snider or Homer, I believe Rad (in a different thread) clipped an excerpt of a column which proves it was all Snider and Homer simply carried out the orders. He needs to step back and just let his GM run the business or, if he feels his GM is incompetent, engage a competent GM. But the degree to which he interferes borders on insane. He has to realize that he’s doing more disservice to the franchise that he loves so much.

He sure couldn't see Pronger taking a stick to the eye and getting a serious concussion. Nobody could. The point is the Flyers paid a huge price to get Pronger and committed to a big contract, putting the team in cap hell for years to come. Couple that with a contract they gave to Bryzgalov, and that's a disaster in making. I can more or less swallow the Pronger deal because at the very least, I can see what they were thinking: a tenacious warrior, a leader, a decent two-way d-man who brings a ton to the table. Sure. But Pronger is also almost 40; you had to consider the possibility that he is at the age where players - especially big, physical players - start showing effects of wear and tear. I don't know if they really explored all the angles so that they could add a needed piece without committing to a big contract and burdening the cap to the point where they can't address other areas. And Bryzgalov's contract is inexcusable. Sorry... But I can't give Snider an out for that. The bottom line - which was the point of this thread - an owner shouldn't be interfering in team's affairs the way Snider has been. He needs to let his GM run the show. He needs to trust his GM knows what he is doing. Most of Snider's directives are knee-jerk reactions, which is exactly what he was doing when Clarke was running the team. That can't happen. That shouldn't happen. I realize he wants to win and he wants to win bad. That’s commendable. But he needs to just take a few steps back and let people who he put in charge himself make decisions. Otherwise, with his meddling he brings havoc and chaos in team’s affairs and as a result (directly or indirectly), his unfounded decisions end up costing the team.

That's what I feel they *should* do. Simply put, Bob has never gotten a fair shot. The Flyers simply decided not to be patient with him. They made a concious decision not to be. He had a rookie season as a #1, in which, I thought, he faired quite well. He didn't set the world on fire, but at teh very least, he showed there is something to work with. And this season is impossible to evaluate him because he had a job of a back-up, which always makes it hard to judge your goalies performance on. Maybe Bob will never become Tim Thamos. Maybe he is a perennial stiff and is destined to suck for years. Maybe. Or maybe he would be at least as good as Kiprusoff. Or Chris Osgood, who, with a help of a deep team, won several cups. But what we do know - or at least farily certain of - is that Bryzgalov is just not a winner. I completely echo your sentiment: he may play better. In fact, I am sure he will. But that "better" will never be good enough to help the team win it all. He has demonsrated it over and over again that he is just not a winner. He can't stand pressure. He wilted under pressure in Phoenix and he clearly can't handle the high expectations in Philadelphia. He uses bad jokes and being a clown as a shield to protect himslef from pressure instead of mobilzing his strength of will and focus. Again, he may surprise us and have a phenominal performance in the playoffs to the point where it becomes a performance for people to remeber and talk about for years. The chances of that happening? Correct...

I think Nashville improved. By how much? It's hard to tell. But this is the least activity I've ever seen at the deadline.... not sure what it's caused by.

I hear you. Personally, I always thought Hexy was way overrated by people here, in Philadelphia. I will never forgive him those 60 footers and just flat out disgraceful performance against Detroit in '96. Granted, the Flyers didn't stand a chance in that series, but the goaltending flat out sucked. Hexy could've made it at least a semi-competitive series, but instead, he only made it easier for the Wings to win. I really begin to wonder if the Flyers will *ever* get this right and address this position.

Nashville has been the most active and I would say, they have improved teh most. They already had good goaltending and D, and with addition of Kositsyn and Goustad, they have addressed offense, at least on paper. What does this translate to the ice - we shall see.

Yep, for better or worse, this is what we have and this is the group that will have to fight through the rest of the season and the playoffs. I am sure Homer tried to improve the team, but I guess what other teams offered was outrageous. I will say the D with an addition of Grossman and Kubina has improved. Health permitting, this is not a bad team and clearly - I don't think there is much of a disagreement - the goaltending is the team's Achilles’ hill once again, like it always has been since Hexy stopped playing. Let's just see what this group can do.

I begin to suspect that as well. We may see an AHL-type player coming our way, but I don't see a big splash.

I have no clue, but if I would have to guess, I would think the Flyers are after a goalie (JSG, Mason, etc.). I honestly don't think they are interested in upgrading the forward position. Of course, depending on what player gets moved to *get* a goalie (unless it's either Bryz or Bob), they would probably give up a roster player, which will make them wanna get a skater back in the deal (I would think). Who really knows... Frankly, I don't know if anything significant will happen.

That's pretty darn good for Nashville. The guy can still score and that's what they need.

Something is cooking and cooking hot. Just heard from someone I know Homer and his team has been actively on the phone basically since 7 AM, mainly with 3 teams: Colorado, Vancouver and Columbus. A 3-way deal is a real possibility. Edmonton and Tampa are also mentioned. No furtehr details but stay tuned.

JSG is the name that's being mentiuned a lot these days. But it would probably be rental.

Well, this is how *I* see it. Bryzgalov, even during his better days, is not what I would call a franchise goaltender. Signing him for 9 years tells me exactly what the Flyers must have thought of him: a face of the franchise. I can see a possibility where the Bryzgalov's agent put everything on the table and gave the Flyers an ultimatum: either honor our demands or no deal at all. And the demands, I am gathering, was exactly what the Flyers gave him. In that case, I would've stopped any negotiations and looked elsewhere. I am sorry - and I know this was discussed ad nauseam - but there was really no good reason to sign him to that ridiculous contract. Look at it this way. In 2006, Vancouver signed Luongo to a four-year, $27 mil deal. This is laughable. And considering the fact that I personally place Luongo two levels above Bryzgalov, this is a even *more* laughable. Bryzgalov clearly got the Flyers over the barrel and they succumbed to his demands. That's poor, short-sighted, narrow-minded, and borderline self-destructive way of doing business. Again, *even* if he lived up to the expectations, this is still way too much money and too long of a term of the contract. And how could Snider not even consider a possibility that the 2010-2011 season Bryzgalov had may've been an aberration? How could the Flyers not do any homework or scouting to see that Bryzgalov’s performance as a direct product of a stifling defense Dave Tippett employs? Again: short-sighted and small-minded. This was clearly a reactionary move by Snider who was blinded by a fiasco of the playoffs. I get that he was pissed. We all were. But there was no reason to panic and handle the situation so poorly.

I know the guy is passionate and wants to win. There is no denying that. But his level of interefering for years not only generated no results, but created some serious fall-backs and issues in team's progress. I just can't imagine what possibly went through his old brain when deciding to sign this stiff Bryzgalov to 9 years (shaking my head) and burden the cap. Pronger is another mistake. As important and tenaceous as the guy is, how could Snider not see him being on the decline? How could this not be anticipated? Look no further than the Sixers (which, to my knowledge, Snider also meddled with despite a popular belief that he was only inerested in the Flyers). As soon as he sold the team, the new owners took the franchise in a different (i.e., positive) direciton and the team is enjoying its first winning season in a long time. I really feel as long as the Old Man owns the team, the Flyers are basically doomed. I just hope Comcast curbs his enthusiams a little and just asks him to let his GM do what the GM is supposed to do. But that ain't happening, most likely.

@mojo1917 I mean, yeah, you are right. The last game the Flyers outshot the Calgary by a ridiculous margin. There were some break-downs, but in general, the defense did well. I was thinking of Edmonton game, my bad.

I am waiting for him to have one.. JUST ONE.. stellar performance where he just shuts the door and makes one ridiculous save after another. Instead, he had another mediocre game. OK, the team D was poor, again... like that's a big surprise. But com'n.... Bryz came up small. He continues letting in softies and that can't make the team in front of him feel confident. This really sucks. This is as frustrating as hell.

Actually, I don't know if it's entirely true. Bouch was pretty darn good when the team went to the Conference Finals in 2000 and lost to those stinking Devils 1:3. He had some unreal performances along the way and the save he made on Elias was just sick. Esche had a phenomenal performance in 2006 and followed that with a huge playoff. I remember he made something like 46 saves in one game against Tampa in which the Flyers won 4:3. And the series against Toronto was when he was just shining. He was making one save under another. He was an MVP of that series and without him, there is no way they advance to the Conference Finals. Granted, it was hard to see Boucher beating Brodeur – as amazing as he was that year. And Esche had, what I think, an anomalous performance that year. In fact, just about every player on that depleted, exhausted, injured, but not defeated team, was a hero (which is why that particular playoff loss to Tampa, even till this day, is so hard to take). Hell, even Tony Amonte played the way I didn't think he was capable of. But it was not out of the realm of a possibility to actually see both Bouch and Esche take the team to the Cup Finals at the very least. At least their respective plays made the Flyers fans proud. Neither has anything to be ashamed of. They both had commendable regular seasons and followed that up with an exceptional playoff. Bryzgalov is not even close – not right now anyway. Bouch and Esche were fighting like crazy. They were raising their bar to the limit and were winning games they had no right winning. They were making stops that made you screaming in front of your TV and refuse to believe your own eyes. Bryzgalov, at least in my recollection, did not have a *single* game this year which he stole or won by himself. He had decent games or actually good games. But he didn’t *steal* any games. I don’t remember him making saves which were in a ‘wow’ category. Like that save Bouch made on Elias in 2000 - that save is something that people will remember for years. Bryzgalov hardly distinguished himself with an unbeleivable save or an unbelievable game so far. Again, many things can change between now and April. And I for one don’t have an explanation for why he is being *that* bad. But to be honest, I have a very little hope that much can change with him.

@aziz Regarding Bernier, one thing I've heard (or read) is that Darryl Sutter is absolutely in love with Quick and has been before he even came to LA. When he took over from Terry Murray, he made it known that Quick would be starting tons of games: literally as many as humanly possible for a goalie to start. And I do believe that most of the starts Bernier got was under Murray, while under Sutter he hasn't seen the light of day. I don't know if it's comparable to Scott Clemensen, who proved to be a much better goalie than his # of starts indicated when in NJ. But he just happened to be backing up the best goalie in the world. It was a lose-lose situation for him at the time. He only had a chance to start a laughable amount of games, unles Brodeur would go down with an injury. Quite possible Bernier is in a similar boat - just my guess.

Fair enough. And I am already giving him credit for the opening night and the two shutouts. I am even giving him credit for being "decent" in those games you are referring to, irrespective of whether it was the entire team effort. But my whole point, Rad, is while I am not disputing the fact he was solid and effective in a handful of games (which were measley), was he actually sensational? I am not even talking about being sensational ALL YEAR, because, clearly he was not and was just the opposite, and secondly, I, for one, didn't even expect him to be the savior. But why is it so much to expect the goalie of his caliber to win at least... AT LEAST.... 4-5 games on his own when the team has not given him much of a support? Why is it so much to expect him to make saves at least every 4-5 games that he was not supposed to be making? If he is incapable of doing that, why not have Bob and Boucher splitting the duties in the first place? What was the reason for bringing him in? To just play solid net? We already had that (not counting playoffs). And who knows, maybe he'll prove us all wrong in the playoffs. He still has time and the team still has time. It's only February. Hey, Jagr made a beleiver out of me, so anything's possible. And I will be the first one who will admit I was wrong, but something tells me he will falter big time in the playoffs. Hope I am wrong... The fact that neither of us can recall those jaw-dropping saves suggests he didn't have any. And that's the problem.

@canoli The only thing I can say - or guess - is that Lavy is not ready to throw his goalie under the bus. Not yet. And I don't think he ever will, because that will basically be the end of it. The already shattered confidence of Bryz will not take it and he will implode. In fact, other than Mike Keenan who did a character assasination of Jon Casey 15 years ago (or so), I don't recall any head coach throwing his goalie under the bus. It doesn't happen in the NHL because you can't expose your most important player to the degree where you question his competence. It reeks of terrible consequences. It's easier to critisize the team as a whole, obviously. But make no mistake, Lavy, and the rest of the team (including a stick boy, a towel boy and everybody's cousin), knows that Bryzgalov has been bad. But this particular game - there are many players to be blame, including him.

And that to me, righgt there, more than anything, underlies the root of the frustration we are all having with him. I would be willing to overlook stinker games – that always happened and will happen to the best of goalies in the world. Nobody is immune to bad games. I would even be willing to overlook the fact that he had multiple games in which he was the sole reason the team lost. Hell, I *even* can look the other way when it comes to the fact that he has been dreadful ALL SEASON LONG. Well, maybe not quite look the other way, but OK. But what frustrates me the most is the goalie of his caliber *should* be winning games by himself, or at least put the team in a position to win games where they were outplayed by an opposing team by a countrymile. I don’t remember a single game where Bryzgalov had a jaw-dropping performance and absolutely stole the victory. Can you? An opening night against Boston - maybe. But that was the first game with so many story lines. I am sure he was excited and really wanted to put his best effort forward. And the whole team was solid. But after that, can you recall at least one game in which he was absolutely sensational? One stinking game? I can’t. Was Bryzglaov named a #1 star in any games this season? I know he had 2 shutouts this season, but again, was he really the reason for that or the whole team just locked down on defense? And that’s the issue. BIG issue! I probably sound like a broken record, but Esche, Chechmanek, Niitty, Biron, Boucher….. even terrible Leighton, had those games where they were phenomenal, where they were a reason the team won the game. How can a goalie of his statue not have a single game in which he carried his team? How can he not have a single save which would be a momentum changing play and turn the game around? How can he not pull a victory in a game where the team had no business winning? That to me is the root of the problem; not so much the fact that he’s been bad.

It was hard to conclude from watching the Edmonton game that the game belonged in the "no effort" category. But than Lavy, himself, comes out and publicly chastises his team for exactly that - lack of effort. Maybe the better way of saying that is the effort was not consistent throughout the game, which you can also safely say about at least 1/3 of the games the Flyers played so far this year. Around Thanksgiving, they were making a habit of not showing up for the 1st period at all and warming up by the time of the second period. I am buying that. There were clearly patches of the game - and the season overall - when the team let their collective foot off the gas pedal. And I think that is probably something that Lavy was hot about. As terrible as goaltending was all season long, I don’t know if I can say the goaltending did cost the team last night. Sure he let in one goal he should’ve had, but it’s not like the team totally fell apart and just threw a flag of surrender. I didn’t quite see it that way. In previous games – yes. Not so much last night. What I am trying to say is that I am not quite ready to put every single loss, every single game where the team has not given it 100% consistently, on Bryzgalov. He is a big ……strike that… HUGE part of the problem, but the skaters should be held accountable as well.

Hitch is a type of a coach whose way of coaching wears thin on players and, as a result, he has a short window of opportunity to win. And that's unfortunate because I always thought he was a damn good coach. And really, that year they lost to Tampa in 7 games was the year the Flyers were closer than ever to win it all. If it wasn't for a long list of injuries to key people, there is no doubt in mind they would’ve won the Cup. Kim Johnsson, Ragnarsson, Desjardins were all out and Amnote, JR, Zhamnov, and Kapanen were playing injured. And they *still* managed to push Tampa to 7 games. I put Hitch way above Laviolette, let alone the other coaches the Flyers had since Fred Shero. But getting back to the topick of this thread, the team, again, is showing some lackadaisical attitude, much like the last year. I really think, again, there is a serious lack of leadership on this team with Pronger being out. They really seem to lack a presence in the locker room who could not only lead by example but push players hard. Giroux is getting there, but he is still very young. Jagr is not a leader. Timonen seems like a logical person who *should* be providing leadership, but for some reason, I think the players tune him out (just my perception, really). They need to find a real captain, which is easier said than done.

Crazy, isn't it? During all these years when Clarke was openly and continuoulsy dismissing the importance/value of the goaltending position, he *still* managed (almost contrary to his own desire) to put at least more or less competent people in net. This year, they went out of their way to address the issue, and got themselves the worst goalie probably in the entire Flyers history. I mean was there worse, especially if putting it in the context of Bryzgalov's contract? Unreal........... Only in Philadelphia.

Proof of what, though? That he was behind shipping Richards and Carter? Other than hearing it from multiple reporters and otehr sports people on the radio (some of whom have supposed sources inside the team), I don't know how much "real" proof there is in the case like this. I also remember an interview with Peter Lukko (I think in September) and he siad something along teh lines of Mr. Snider was VERY supportive of both trades, which, to me translates to "Mr. Snider was pushing for the trade". From what I read and heard, Snider hated Richards' guts, and he desliked EVERYTHING about him: from his drinking to being defiant and the fact that he refused to be involved in the community, which to Snuider is almost a personal insult (can't say I disagree with Snider on this one). So putting two and two together, do we really NEED more proof?