radoran

No, but bad defense makes the problems a goalie has worse. Bobrovsky last night made some huge saves, but as the defense gave up opportunity after opportunity, there's only so much the goalie can do. On top of that, he didn't stop a shorthanded breakaway and gave up a soft goal to make it 3-0. Today on this forum "it's not Bob's fault." If it had been Bryzgalov in net doing exactly the same thing, I think we'd hear a Much Different Story. Bryzgalov needs to play better. No one argues that. But so do the Flyers, and giving the skaters a free pass - as we do when blaming Cechmanek for not having a 0.00 GAA, for example - plays right into the posted analysis about Philadelphia fans never liking their #1 G.

No, it didn't. Cechmanek's Flyers career regular season: 00-01 35-15-6 2.01/.921 01-02 24-13-6 2.05/.921 02-03 33-15-10 1.83/.925 playoffs: 00-01 2-4 3.12/.891 01-02 1-3 1.85/.936 02-03 6-7 2.14/.909 Yeah, that was absolutely horrific. Can you imagine if they had a goalie putting up those numbers today?? So, obviously, was Esche's 21-11-7-3 2.04/.915 regular season and 2.32/.916 playoff the next year. My point being that this guy is saying "is Philadelphia too hard on Bryzgalov" and then parrots the conventional wisdom that Roman Cechmanek was the problem in a series against Ottawa in which the team scored TWO GOALS in FIVE GAMES and ACTUALLY WON ONE. If your goalie puts up a 1.85 GAA and you lose, it's not the goalie's fault. This is the real point, which was amplified in last night's Islanders' game. Turnovers, missed passes, bad coverage - all led to defensive breakdowns and either chances or goals. Goalies can make big save after big save, but consistent pressure and defensive lapses can defeat the best of them. Phoenix sure ain't Philly when it comes to hockey - or just about anything else.

...who played wing when he had success in Philadelphia. Why the Sabres signed a guy who was a moderately successful wing and expected him to convert to 1/2 line C is beyond me. His 2007 breakout season in Finland that got the Wings' attention was when he was switched... from center to wing. The fact is, the Sabres didn't need to roll the dice on Leino at all.

"using facts you can prove anything that's even remotely true!" - Homer J. Simpson

Last night for much of the game it was like the crease extended all the way out to the circles. There was NOBODY in front for HUGE stretches of the game. Really inexcusable IMO.

One thing we haven't seen, in reference to the JVR/JLC topic, is JVR willing to go down low and be the front of net presence. That was JLC's office (and why he has such a bad back these days), from the 1993 playoffs onward. JVR definitely needs an edge and his unwillingness to take the physical aspect of the game definitely hinders his overall presence.

Briere has scored 9 of his 13 goals in the 19 games at home (and 4 in 23 on the road) and he's on a Point Per Game pace (19 for 19) at home. 11 in 23 on the road. That's the best home production he's had since his injury in 08-09.

Game could easily have been 5-0. The disallowed goal and the puck Voracek cleared. And could have been worse than that. But it won't matter which Bobrovzgalov (Bryzrovsky?) is in net if the team plays like that in front of them.

Well, now you're in my sweet spot... :-) The Habs clearly had no idea what they had in JLC and they didn't use him in a "scoring" capacity, despite his heroics in the '93 Cup playoffs. JLC also played four years (mostly) at UVM, where JVR played two at the University of Upside Down State, so JLC was older when he hit the NHL. When JLC came to Philly, he was matched with Lindros and legend ensued. He was a 20-goal scorer (well, OK, 19 in low 70s games), but then exploded with 25 in 37 games when paired with #88 and the league was Doomed. JVR by contrast has been groomed to be a scoring threat and put into that position, so his early numbers should be higher than JLC. What JVR needs more than anything is the drive to excel. I think JLC got that with Lindros. I like the JVR-Schenn-Simmonds line. Seems like a good group of complimentary players. Hopefully, it will continue to develop and JVR will continue to improve.

I'd say with Backstrom being somewhat unreliable (injury, sickness) and next year being his last under contract, that does affect Harding's value in a more positive way for the Wild. That said, Harding is a UFA at the end of the season and unlikely to be re-signed at his current number. They could deal him before they don't re-sign him (although, I'd look to get him back under contract).

You know what? There really *isn't* a "lot of talent" in Buffalo. Vanek - sure. Pominville - really emerged this season. Miller? Well... After that...? Myers? A solid building block. Some nice young talent (Adam, Enroth, Kassian, Ennis, Gerbe) - but not "rightnow" type guys. Beyond that? $4M tied up in Derek Roy through next season and Stafford through 2015. These guys have never been the consistent producers you'd expect from such "talent." Let's not get into Leino. Ehrhoff is OK, but hardly a foundation of your defense. IF they can unload a Roy or Stafford and add that to the $9.825M they're freeing up with Hecht/Boyes/Gaustad, they might find some room to get some serious (not Leino) talent. I haven't thought of Ruff as "the problem" (certainly not as much as Reigier) but if he can't find the newly-refitted locker room, it would be time to move on... Those darn rooms move around so much, you lose them sometimes.

You're way off, man. He's secretly Obama's half cousin from Kenya. True story.

I stress over early goals, bad goals, lateral movement, glove hand and stick handling regardless of how much money the goalie is making...

No, which is why he has played in 285 games with 161 points (.56 PPG) while JVR has 97 points in 190 games (.51 PPG).

There is no way the Flyers will trade Jaromir Jagr. Book it. They didn't sign him to turn him into a deadline asset. They definitely need to monitor Jagr's health and make sure he's ready to go when the games start meaning more each round.

Voracek is still an RFA this season, so they have his rights and can tender him for next season. The real question is long-term, and you are right any arbitrator isn't going to use Martin Erat. They will use the #2 pick from the same draft who is on the same team. In terms of total points, it's a bit of apples and oranges as Voracek was in the league almost immediately and was playing for Columbus, but on a PPG level, Voracek is .05 PPG ahead of JVR's career production. This season, Voracek is at .61 PPG and JVR is at .59. By any meaasure, however, if JVR is "worth" $4.25 on the open market then Voracek could be as well. Now, as for "salary" this isn't MY preferred way to look at contracts, but I think the Flyers will say "JVR's only making $2.5M next season" on their contract and that the length of the deal - like, say, Hartnell or Briere - is why it is "worth" $4.25M on the cap (with JVR's contract going UP over the length of the deal instead of down like Hartnell of Briere). I think they will try to do a 2-3 year deal somewhere in the $3.5M range and revisit when they have Briere's money off the cap.

Honestly, selling is the best thing Buffalo can do right now. Amazing how that team just fell apart. If they can get anything for Hecht, I'd be amazed, but I'd take a bag of pucks and a draft pick. Roy should be dealt. Stafford if they have the right deal. If they can package Leino to get Ryan, I might change the entire way I think about Darcy Reigier. I also don't think Boston's going to be looking to move Rask. Thomas isn't exactly a spring chicken.

Vodka.

The Wild really need to get going in a different direction - literally speaking. They've gone from tops in the league to clinging to 8th and now they've lost Koivu for a few weeks. Whoa, nice trench.

Absolutely agree. Which is why they need to play better team defense (and losing your captain/#1 D for the season certainly doesn't help). It's not "making apologies" for Bryz. It's saying how to best use the asset you have (unfortunately) acquired. Given lemons, make lemonade. And add vodka.

I'll readily confess to not seeing all 41 goals against for Phoenix in their last two playoffs with Detroit. Again, this is only to point out that "Bryz can't play in the playoffs" isn't the cut-and-dry proposition some people might like it to be. Simply repeating "conventional wisdom" doesn't make it true. Two years ago he actually won three games, holding the Wings to two goals in all of them. In the last three losses the Coyotes managed two entire goals. Total. Was Bryzgalov the reason the Coyotes lost those games? Take away the 50-shot, 44-save performance in the 6-1 Game 7 loss, and he put up a .912 SV%. Even with Game 7, it's .906. A .906 SV% in a losing four game sweep really isn't all that shabby. We ran a guy out of town for putting up 1.85/.936 in a five game loss... (OK, fine, technically we ran him out of town after the next season's 2.14/.909 playoff). And it doesn't at all invalidate Bryz's playoff numbers with Anaheim. I will say that if the Flyers give up 39-34-31-36 shots a game against a 1-5 seed, as Phoenix did last year against DET, they're not going to win many series even if Bob's in goal.

Well, yes, in the last two playoffs he's had some problems - against Detroit, playing with Phoenix. Last season Detroit was the #3 seed with home ice. They swept the Coyotes 4-0. The year before, Phoenix took the Red Wings to seven games as a 4 seed. They lost Game 7 6-1 - giving up FIFTY shots. At home. I just don't think looking at Phoenix playing it's first playoffs in... ever? Against Detroit. Twice. Is the best measure. Because if you look at previous seasons - and he does have previous playoff experience beyond Phoenix - the situation gets a little more complicated. In 06-07 3-1, 2.25/.922 - Anaheim won the Stanley Cup In 05-06 6-4 1.46/.944 - posted a shutout to send Calgary home and then two shutouts to open a four game sweep of Colorado. Is Bryz capable of putting up numbers in the playoffs? Yep. Will he? We'll clearly find out.

You didn't. I did. And will. :-)

If Bob thinks that, then Bob's not the goalie you think he is. A second-year-guy looking at a 10-year vet who's a former Vezina nominee and whining about salary? Get him out of my locker room. Is Matt Read grumbling about making 20% of Jagr? He's got more goals and just five points less. Is Gustaffsson concerned that Pronger is making almost nine times his salary and not even playing? If I'm Bob, I'm looking at Bryz and thinking "in two years, I'll be making what he's making". That's how a professional looks at it. This annoys me a heckuva lot more than Ed Snider pissing away $10M of Comcast's money this season. They could be paying Bryz $1 and he'd still have a $5.65M cap hit, which is the only thing that affects what the team can do. As I said, feel free to hang your hat on that peg if you'd like. For me, there are much better points to make that don't result in this side discussion.

Then we should be happy in Year Eight ($2.5M) and Nine ($1.5M) when he's making much less. Of course, if by some Act of God Bryz is still here in Y8 and Y9, I guarandamntee people will then be talking about his "$5.6M salary" just like I expect people to complain about Briere's "$6,5M salary" in 13-14 ($3M) and 14-15 ($2M) - and probably many of the same people who wailed about Briere making "$10M" in 07-08. Contracts are structured like that to give players a lot of money up front and make it more difficult for other teams to match while lowering the overall cap hit (and, IMO, giving Bryz an "out" after Y4-6 to go back to Russia). This isn't just a "cap" era thing, the Flyers did the same thing when Chris Gratton was the Highest Paid Hockey Player In The World for one season. It's an accounting trick and negotiating ploy. If you want to hang your hat on it, fine. It's just a weak peg fairly low on the scale when talking about the abject disaster in the Flyers' crease at the moment. WRT the trades, we don't need to redefine redundant at this point, but it is true that while BOTH deals didn't "need" to be done to sign Bryz, the Crater/Richards deals were absolutely done to create the room to sign Bryzgalov. "Facilitate"? Probably not. Inextricably entwined? Absolutely. There were other reasons they dealt both...