Bryz Nay-Sayers

[aziz]

True Idaho - it's real tempting to throw the negativity back at a lot of the posters in here who were all over this guy months back. I was guilty myself in the Bryz shutout thread telling guys to eat crow becasue I was KILLED months back trying to defend the guy.

I guess it's just human nature to complain when things are not going right, but stay quiet when things are ok.

Either way many of these dudes look a bit foolish now, and they won't own up to it in the least bit. Proud to boo players on your own team? And you wonder why I have to defend myself as a Philly fan half the time.

know what, green? piss off.

esche, the season before he was exiled to russia, performed better than bryzgalov did through the middle of january, and i thought that was as bad as it could ever get. there was nothing at all wrong with calling a situation the way it was. pretending things were ok when the flyers were paying more than any other team in the league for their goalie while getting close to the worst goaltending in the league deserved comment.

[aziz]

Aziz, I normallly agree with the vast majority of what you say, especially with regards to goaltending. But posting a video of one terrible goal from near the blue line

each and every one of those goals were terrible. each and every one of them should have been dealt with by an NHL goaltender, nevermind the highest paid one. whether they were whiffs on shots from the blueline, dropping rebounds right into the slot, or horrific positioning/body control that had him way way out of position, all were terrible. and that was just the one game.

track down any old game before mid january, go to youtube and search for the two teams with the date, and watch. the guy was consistently awful, for months.

again, i get that the new and more intense environment is a reason for issues. initially. two and three months into the season, though, those should long since have been in the rear view mirror. the fact they could possibly be pointed to as a reason for his continued problems 20 and 30 games into the season is either A)wrong, or B)bodes very very ill for future high-pressure situations the flyers are likely to find themselves in.

[AndyS]

each and every one of those goals were terrible. each and every one of them should have been dealt with by an NHL goaltender, nevermind the highest paid one. whether they were whiffs on shots from the blueline, dropping rebounds right into the slot, or horrific positioning/body control that had him way way out of position, all were terrible. and that was just the one game.

track down any old game before mid january, go to youtube and search for the two teams with the date, and watch. the guy was consistently awful, for months.

again, i get that the new and more intense environment is a reason for issues. initially. two and three months into the season, though, those should long since have been in the rear view mirror. the fact they could possibly be pointed to as a reason for his continued problems 20 and 30 games into the season is either A)wrong, or B)bodes very very ill for future high-pressure situations the flyers are likely to find themselves in.

Again, I'm NOT saying that he wasn't awful (and awful for a long stretch of the season).

But, again, the big contract, all the young kids on this team, the injury to Pronger, etc. Who knows what kind of pressure he put on himself to try to carry the team? And he obviously didn't handle it well.

And, judging by the team's home record before last month, no one did.

[aziz]

....And he obviously didn't handle it well.

And, judging by the team's home record before last month, no one did.

except that judging by the team's statistical performance in all catagories outside of save percentage, goals against average, and faceoffs, they did. top couple of teams in goals for, top couple of teams in shots against, all in all everyone did their job well, except for the goalie.

i don't mean to jump down your throat. greenguywhatever is pissing me off with his preachy and opportunistic told-you-sos. the guy made 4 posts backing bryzgalov up, and is now acting like he died for our sins and deserves boxes of cookies. as far as i'm concerned, the only reason the flyers are not #1 in the league right now is because bryzgalov just completely threw 10 or so games away. i am more than happy that he has gotten his crap together recently, but that doesn't mean anyone who found his previous performance unacceptable owes anyone any kind of owning up.

[AndyS]

@aziz No worries. It ain't like I'm claiming to have always believed that he would get his act together. I was the one calling for a trade for Nabakov (oops) or Giggy not too long ago.

I just decided to cut him some slack & get behind him.

Lord willing, this is the goalie that Homer signed. If he keeps this up, we're finally going to see another Cup in Philly soon.

[doom88]

And this is what it really comes down to... You are either a glass half full person or glass half empty..... I'm glad I'm the way i am...

I am a 'glass is at half capacity' guy. Bryz is playing humongous big now, but just the opposite earlier in the season and for much longer thus far. Let's wait and see after the season?

[sarsippius]

i am more than happy that he has gotten his crap together recently, but that doesn't mean anyone who found his previous performance unacceptable owes anyone any kind of owning up.

How do you "like" a post here? Because that summed it up perfectly. No seriously, where's the like button.....

[Adamflyers]

Look, you can say what you want about fans jumping on the guy, fairly or unfairly, but the bottom line is that we were not out of line to be on him. Briere let the cat out of the bag by telling us all how the guys in the room were also unhappy with him. They thought he was not being that great a teammate. It was all about Bryz. That was not some hater fans saying that bout him, that was one of the team leaders. They had to pull him aside and tell him to cut the crap!

To his credit, he took the advice to heart and now he is thriving. His interviews are all about deflecting the attention from himself and putting all the praise on the team. It is obvious the guys in the room appreciate how well he took the advice. He could have easily said screw you and kept acting the way he had been, but he manned up and did thhe right thing. It is paying off so far.

I don't apologize for booing hm off the ice and I never will. One poster implied that those of us who booed him are being silent now that he is playing well. BULL! We are all saying how happy we are that he is finally playing well. You want us to own up for being on him? Keep dreaming...the fans and his own teammates got on him and rightfully so. He played like crap and made some really dumb comments.

We are all happy that he is playing well and we are all cheering him on. Do we really need to continue the divide here? We are all different kinds of people seeking the same outcome.

[Phlyer1]

Bryz has looked fantastic but tonight showed it is still a team effort and allowing the Isles to crash the net to score two goals in a matter of seconds showed that lack of team effort. JMO

[doom88]

I think it was more a lack of focus and a good attack on the second goal. Grossman followed one guy, Coburn stuck to his, and another (Tavares) comes right up the gut. Sucks, but the Islanders didn't quit.

[Irishjim]

How do you "like" a post here? Because that summed it up perfectly. No seriously, where's the like button.....

see the gray "Agree with this" tab to the right click that

[sarsippius]

Thanks Jim.

I didn't think they made bikinis that big....

[Irishjim]

Thanks Jim.

I didn't think they made bikinis that big....

those are fruit flavored garbage bags, makes ya want to move to buffalo don't it

[Phlyer1]

Going back in time I have said,"3 goals is not a lead it is just a start."

[Bakanekimiwa]

Well lets face it...he brought the media upon himself.

yes he did, but it's a shame that the media in philly are such dirt diggers and basically looking for a negative angle everywhere they can find it. the philly media are sharks and when they smell blood they go for it. and illya gave them tons of blood early on by saying the things that he did. ( universe, soccer net behind me, can't stop the puck).

but, why didn't those things happen elsewhere? it's not exactly like he became a different person. he's always been eccentric and colorful with the media. it's only here in philly where it became a problem.

because you have guys like carchidi who always ask the leading questions... always for the negative angle. carchidi is a **** and should be the one run out of town.

anyway, before i get too carried away with hating on carchidi... it is a shame that we can't have his colorful comments and have the media leave him alone because, let's face it, he's pretty funny. i'm sure his humor would go over a lot better right now than back when he was playing shite.

well, since he pretty much stopped talking with the media(about himself at least), it's interesting that he's not only been good... he's been outstanding. he was partly to blame for being innocent and being completely honest with the media and they stabbed him in the back. they share at least half the blame for his poor play, imo. i can't believe i'm even saying that either because a pro should rise above this stuff, but we can't forget that these are people too. affected.

chew on these bryz numbers for march so far...

March- 7-0, 0.99 Goals Against, .965 save percentage, 4 shutouts.

outstanding.

[aziz]

chew on these bryz numbers for march so far...

March- 7-0, 0.99 Goals Against, .965 save percentage, 4 shutouts.

outstanding.

not to throw too much cold water on anyone, but that's what 4 shutouts will do for short term stats. brian boucher's numbers were AMAZING for the first half of january, 2003.

i think we all know bryzgalov isn't likely to continue with a save percentage over .950...and we all hope he won't revert back to a save percentage under .890. the question is what middle ground will he settle into the rest of the way. and, if his first half performance came from too much pressure, what will he look like in the playoffs when the cooker really heats up? i, for one, still don't have a great feeling. i'll eat crow about that bit if he is solid the rest of the way, but the mess he made of his first 43 starts is way too recent for me to breathe easy, even after a couple weeks of really strong play.

[Bakanekimiwa]

not to throw too much cold water on anyone, but that's what 4 shutouts will do for short term stats. brian boucher's numbers were AMAZING for the first half of january, 2003.

i think we all know bryzgalov isn't likely to continue with a save percentage over .950...and we all hope he won't revert back to a save percentage under .890. the question is what middle ground will he settle into the rest of the way. and, if his first half performance came from too much pressure, what will he look like in the playoffs when the cooker really heats up? i, for one, still don't have a great feeling. i'll eat crow about that bit if he is solid the rest of the way, but the mess he made of his first 43 starts is way too recent for me to breathe easy, even after a couple weeks of really strong play.

fair points... and i agree. i'm really just marveling at those numbers anyway. i mean.. they are really good. but, there's no way in H he's going to keep this up, it's impossible. i'm just hoping he averages out to slightly better than his career avg and then i'll be happy with his performance the rest of the way. i think, at this point, it's probably impossible for him to improve his GA and % #'s over his career avg, so this will be a down year in his career almost for sure(is it impossible? i'm not about to do that math right now).

but, if he can just play consistently well over the last month of the season here, we'll be in good shape for our first round matchup(jersey, pitt or florida?). when the playoffs come, it's anybody's guess. if the media gets in his head again, i'd suspect he starts letting in softy after softy again. he very well might be teetering on a house of cards here and if a soft ones goes in early in a series game, i could easily see him fold.

and yes, that is a problem for the flyers for the next *8* years. if he's not mentally tough enough to rebound from the pressure here, i think their money would be wisely invested in the top sports psychologists in the world over that philly live.

but, again, i don't think we can automatically assume that because he had a rough go in his playoffs last year that the same will happen here. if he has finally figured out how to play well here and ignore the media... and it's working so far, maybe he can keep up some consistently good play. i'm sure there will be dips here and there, but that's normal for any goalie. we can only hope and wait and see.

edit: meant 'next 8 years'

Edited March 16, 2012 by Bakanekimiwa

[aziz]

@Bakanekimiwa

and, we have seen he *is* capable of solid play. there is reason to hope. maybe he had some kind of breakthrough and now has a way of venting stress so doesn't take it all out on his save percentage.

i'm taking it day by day with what i expect to see from him, i guess is what i'm saying. you said it perfectly: hope and wait and see.

[Bakanekimiwa]

@Bakanekimiwa

and, we have seen he *is* capable of solid play. there is reason to hope. maybe he had some kind of breakthrough and now has a way of venting stress so doesn't take it all out on his save percentage.

i'm taking it day by day with what i expect to see from him, i guess is what i'm saying. you said it perfectly: hope and wait and see.

well yah.. we've been traumatized. anytime there's a breakaway, we're sure they'll score. pretty much any shot makes me nervous about his play. so, i don't think that's going away any time soon.

[xganarchy]

I don't think anyone is saying it was unfair to be unhappy with Bryz's play, but for those who wanted to buy out or try to trade him or any other number of unlikely scenarios should be glad we didn't. In the end we're all Flyers fans and want the best for the team, right? I had hope Bryz would snap out of his funk and revert to the type of goaltending we saw from him with other teams (as we all did).

[aziz]

but for those who wanted to buy out or try to trade him or any other number of unlikely scenarios should be glad we didn't. In the end we're all Flyers fans and want the best for the team, right?

it's a still a stupid about of money for a stupid length of time. i'm not sure "best for the team" is taking that cap hit for another 8 years, no matter how spectacular he's playing at the moment.

that's the other part to previous upset-ness....not only was he playing like crap, but the contract was bad even if he were playing outstanding hockey.

[Spinorama]

not to throw too much cold water on anyone

dude, this thread NEEDED cold water, it's amazing to see everyone so divided on this issue now,.... where was the debate when he was playing horrible? I don't remember all that many threads asking board members to give the guy a break or stop being so hard on him. If anything WAS said it was merely a slight suggestion, but never an emphatic level of support. Maybe those who were willing to be patient sat silently in the wings out of fear of getting flamed but this thread in a way a disgrace. There is no denying his early performance (eh hem, read lack there of). There's no denying his pay. Fans had a right to be upset, they spend hard earned free time and hard earned money on supporting these guys to get paid enormous sums of money to play a kids game. If this was Billy from around the corner and he was struggling in his pee wee league, then yeah, the whole "these guys are human" argument holds up. But this isn't Billy from around the corner, this is a hired professional. Would the patience be there for a doctor that was supposed to be the best if he was screwing up a surgery on a loved one? Or what about a financial manager that you hired who's poor performance meant your financial portfolio just went right down the toilet? Of course not, but since this is just a game it's okay to suck for a while? I guess those aren't really $51mil real world dollars this guy was cashing in either right? And it wasn't some poor guys hard earned money and time off that he spent taking his son to a game? get real. He sucked, and thus he deserved all the criticism and boos he received.

That said, the guy is playing great and thus deserves praise. It's O-KAY. People are allowed to say a player is sucking if he is sucking and then turn around and say "it's about time" when the player is living up to the expectations set by his contract.

I've been in the camp of wondering when he was going to finally be good. I wasn't about to ignore is piss poor play, but at the same time I knew there had to be quality there. I speculated in the past that it would take him getting to the off season to digest the market, the expectations, the contract and not think about the WC or 24/7 and just play hockey. It looks like I might be wrong (might NOT because I don't have faith, but because I'd hate to jinx it).

So yeah, I'm no nay sayer, and I'm not going to be running around saying "see guys, I told ya so" either. He gets the same treatment I give all the athletes I cheer for. When you suck, I boo you. When you play well, I cheer you. Does it really have to be any more complicated than this? really?

[aziz]

@Spinorama

well, in his defense, this greenguy did have a couple posts saying bryzgalov wasn't playing all that bad, and he'd get results eventually. a little denial, a little blind faith, but he was there. in a couple posts. to hear him say it, though, he stood outside the wfc with sandwich boards for weeks on end, through sleet and hail and people throwing tomatoes. he got KILLED, he says. "forgive them, father, for they know not what they do"

[Spinorama]

that's not the crux of my point. people complained, people kept the faith. why are we trying to give each other crap over this? Pointless discussion and pointless thread. They guy is playing great, just be happy about that, who cares who believed and who didn't? Some decide to hold players accountable differently, doesn't make anyone any less of a fan than the other just because they rout for their team in different ways.

[doom88]

You are on fire with these responses!