radoran

I just can't see the Flyers taking a buyout after Y1. The degree of egg on their face would make a chicken farm look low cholesterol. It would also start to attrract the attention of bigwigs at Comcast as to how Snider's been running things. Lets not forget that he was in charge of the 76ers as well who, I am told, remain a professional sports franchise somehow. They will notice a $42.5M blunder ($15M this year and $27.47 buyout)

Case in point - although a NTC and not NMC: Simon Gagne. Also, Bob's already signed next season for $1.75M.

Good technique can raise your luck quotient - like good positioning. There is also something to be said for the stability of the team in front of the goalie. And Marty Biron? 7-1-0, 1.84, .933 this season. How does that stack up against Bob's current numbers? (7-2-1, 2.57/.913 this year)

Bob will be traded or Bryz will be bought out. The latter the less likely of the two.

Lundqvist's current deal is six years at $6.875M per - probably close to what it would have taken to sign Bryz for a shorter term.. Obviously Lundqvist's entry level was lower.

I certainly don't "hate" Bryzgalov. I do hate the 9-year, NMC deal. I hope he can turn it around in the second half and don't really think Bob's "the answer" at this point... We'll see.

I think Bryz needs a muzzle or a filter at times. Meltzer's right that Bryz has been "OK" but not great. He was signed to be great. Something has to give.

I find the aarticle typical of the lazy reporting done in the "MSM" - it reads like they just cribbed some notes off this site. For one, I love the concept of the backup being "more consistent" - having never played consistently... Then there's the "deceptive" record - the facst are that prior to the Rangers both Bob and Bryz had given up four or more goals in 1/3 of their starts. I still think the Flyers are tied to Bryzgalov like a pair of cement overshoes, but that's the bed they made for themselves. I would have probably liked to see what the younger guy had in the tank, but Snider was cleary not happy with a young Russian and wanted an older one... Maybe the best thing for Bryz is to play Bob until he's not the "consistent" goalie that everyone seems to think he is. Then peope will start demanding that they play the backup... I think a $51M mistake will be the end of Homer if they buy out Bryz. Only god is removing Snider (or Snider himself).

I'm increasingly of the impression they made a $51M, 9-year, franchise-altering commitment to a man they'd never even met. This deal was a potential trainwreck from the moment they signed it. It is turning into a disaster of epic proportions if Bryzgalov doesn't find his way out of it.

Absolutely true, but also an inadequate statistical set - especially 3 games vs. 8. Dropping the outlier - a completely accepted practice in statistical analysis - his two games of .938 and.903 (the .968 against DAL being dropped) are more in line with his career .915 mark. It's also why looking at a guy who's got three starts in a month and calling him the "hot hand" is a bit hyperbolic. I'll put a "potentially" before "lesser" just because we honestly don't know how Bob will be long-term. Given his age, he should continue to develop into a better goalie. Some guys do, as you know, plateau, however. I just don't see the "upside" of playing Bob "for the hot hand." Suppose he goes on a five-game tear and reels off wins in a row. He had six consecutive wins twice last season - the last coming in January, 2011. Then he ended the season with his last 16 games being 5-4-5 and pulled twice. And that's not counting the playoffs. What's the GAIN here? That we develop a dominant goalie we're totally in love with who's contract is up after next season and we can't afford to keep with the "#1 G" that we "had to sign" in this past offseason? Ilya Bryzgalov for better or worse is a Vezina Trophy nominee averaging 60 starts a year for the past four years with a .920+ SV% in 3 of the 4. Sergei Bobrovsky has great potential but I am hesitant to say that he has been "consistent". Again I LIKE BOB - but I can see why Flyers management wasn't prepared to hand him the reins to start this season and why they're not going to do it now.

So it wasn't the first time this happened and likely won't be the last. And Ott is a sputtering, jabbering mess because of it? Puh-leeze. Games aren't won in the tunnel, Steverino. Maybe if you weren't getting your collective heads handed to you on the ice, the tunnel wouldn't have been so important...

21-8-4, top of the conference. Two regulation losses and two OTLs in the past two months. He has been a real drag on this team's chances... In the two OTLs - one a shoot out - the team in front of him has scored a total of a whopping three goals (1.5 GPG). I think some momentum-generating offense might be something to look for? Again - my decisionis based upon what MANAGEMENT decided over the summer. PERIOD. I am DISAPPOINTED in Bryzgalov's play. I would LIKE IT TO BE BETTER. But as long as he's got the 9-year, $51M, NMC contract, he's your #1 goalie and the facts are simply this: You play your #1 goalie against division opponents on the road 10 days before you see them in a showcase Winter Classic. You don't dicker around "trying out" your backup to see if you can "ride the hot hand." And Bryzgalov - for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health - was given a big, shiny, $51M ring by Flyers management.

I didn't make Bryzgalov the Flyers' #1 goalie by signing him to a 9-year, NMC, $51M contract. Management did. I don't disagree with any of the legitimate criticisms of Bryzgalov's play. I am disappointed in it as well. Nevertheless, it is what it is and what it is is Bryzgalov needs to start against New York for the good of the team or you have a $5.6M millstone with a no movement clause on your cap and we can "hope" that something in the new CBA "might" let us get out from under it. I like to bet on 17-black, but you can't make a living at it. I'm not discounting Boston - but the entire team did play like crap and was due for a stinker. Bryz was not good in the game. But if you even include Boston, and go with the 2.83 GAA (2.87 season) thus "needing" four goals to win, Bobrovsky is 2.52 for the season (about his career average, actually) - thus "needing" four goals to win more often than not. See, I remember the Bobrovsky who sputtered into the playoffs last year, 0-2-2 in his last five starts, giving up four to Ottawa, four to Buffalo and getting pulled in his last regular season start - against the ISLANDERS - giving up three goals on 10 shots in 12 minutes. Of course, all goalies have bad stretches. Start Bryz.

Well, part of the point is that you've seen Bob start three times in a month. Absence does make the heart grow fonder. And, yes, Bryz has had his struggles. That said, the only games they "needed' to score four to win in Bryz' December starts were Anaheim and Buffalo. 1/3 of the starts. In Bob's three starts, they "needed" to score four to win one - at Montreal. 1/3 of the starts. What evidence is there that Bobrovsky be "better" over a long haul? I *like* Bob and would make different decisions in different situations. We're not in a different situation. We're in this one. In this one, you start Bryz. Again - this position is SOLELY from the perspective of the decisions management made over the summer. Bryzgalov is the Flyers' #1 goalie. You start your #1 goalie in road division games against rivals.

I'm just going to take a quick look at the "hot goalie" argument for a second: 1) Bob has three starts since November 26. In that span, he's 2-1 with a 2.01 GAA and .935 SV%. I have not included two games in which he subbed for Bryz - once due to injury the other against Boston. 2) In that same span of time, Bryz is 6-1-1 in 8 starts, 2.83, .898. Removing Boston - in which, in my opinion, the entire team played like warmed over dogmeat - he's 2.29, .914 in seven starts. Given those numbers*, I'm not so sure one is obviously "hotter" than the other, especially given that Bobrovsky - with slightly better stats - has all of three starts in the past month. For me, the question is what's best for the team. And, given the choices that management has made, the best choice for the team is to roll their "#1 G" out there, on the road against a division rival 10 days before the Winter Classic. And their "#1 G" is Ilya Bryzgalov. * most important numbers for me: 8-2-1

Jody "Slap Shot" Shelley has 18 career goals. In 609 games. I don't think his linemates matter at all. Come to think of it, that means that of 18 career goals, 1/6 of them made a longstanding impression on the Flyers' General Manager and Coach.

But we've had the "professional athletes aren't 'like everybody else'" talk quite a few times. You can't simply say "they're just like the average worker" because they aren't. Moreover, how many times have the Flyers found themselves paying 2, 3, 4 coaches at a time? No, it doesn't affect the cap, but it's a contract just the same. Your point about the GM's offering these ridiculous contracts is the cogent one. Yet, after long-term deal after long-term deal, the guys who signed the deals keep leaving and the guy who keeps offering them keeps his job...

It seems you & I are on the same page with Bryz. I'm from the camp that if you want to be upset with Bryz for his play because of what you were told when he was signed, I suggest you first talk with the person who told you all that stuff. Any goalie is generally made better or worse by the defense in front of him. This isn't an excuse. It's a solid fact.

I think different players react... differently. You wouldn't say that Alexandre Daigle was better because he played junior, ready to take on the slings and arrows of a full NHL season. How about Pat Falloon? I'm not saying JVR *wouldn't* have benefitted from a different way of "learning" hockey. Just that there's no real "slam dunk" for it.

I've been following Bryz on an FHL angle for a while so I'm familiar with his play and career. However, I count 13 4+ goal games in 67 starts last season. He has 8 in 23 starts this season. I see obvious room for improvement. He's "on pace" for nearly double the number of 4+ goal games he had last year. I'll also say that if the Flyers wind up giving up 35 shots a game in the postseason (as Phoenix did last year - 36-31-34-39) then it won't really matter... I would never cheer for Jar Jar Binks.

And we'll see if Bryz has that in him. I'm not taking his experience on a 7/8 seed going up against the tops in the Western Conference for the Coyotes as the be all and end all of his playoff experience. If he shuts down teams in the playoffs - and the Flyers manage to score more than twice in a five game series - I like the chances. @926 The main issue is consistency - and an ancillary issue is play at home. He needs to post a string of 1.95/.926 games at home - and the team needs to play better at home in front of him - to quiet the detractors. But, honestly, yeah - I'm frustrated with how his play has been in the first half of this season. I hope it will improve and I expect it to. There is not a person on this board, I'll wager, who is sticking it to Bryz now, that won't be happily celebrating a Cup, if it happens.

@Vincent05 I don't disagree with a thing you have written in that last post.

The backup goaltender is always one of the most favorite Flyers for fans. Until he becomes the starter. I understand the frustration with Bryz. Hell, I'm frustrated with Bryz. But that doesn't mean that Bobrovsky or Leighton would do any better in this situation. Yes, they're paid less. That's about it. Bob's numbers are virtually the same as Bryz' and Leighton is, well, Leighton and if I never see him in a Flyers jersey again it will be too soon. All we can really do is wait to see if Bryz gets it together. This team "should" make the playoffs. That's where I'll "judge" Bryz this season.

He was part and parcel of it - they brought him in at the start of the 09-10 season and also signed.... Brian Boucher to back up. Emery went down and they... claimed Michael Leighton off waivers. at the end of the season they signed... Sergei Bobrovsky. The year before Emery was Biron. Emery would have been another "roll the dice' type move, IMO, for the Flyers' goaltending. This is not - again apparently and allegedly - what Mr. Snider had in mind...

Thing is, Snider (apparently and allegedly) wanted a solid "end" to the goalie carousel debate. Bringing back Emery, who was already a part of that same carousel, would not likely have been seen to do that. I don't like how this organization addresses what it considers "problems" - whether the "must have #1 C" that turned into Briere or the "big vet defenseman" that became Pronger or the "gotta have #1 G" that became Bryzgalov. Overreactions and bad decisions, IMO.