Fair article on Bryzgalov? You decide

[canoli]

http://www.philly.co...en_shrinks.html

This writer makes the point that, while it was undoubtedly a team loss, Bryzgalov faltered in the 3rd, that he couldn't finish the way he started. I think it's a fair point. He did get small (again) on Larsen's goal and it was an easy put-away for a non-goal scorer. Beyond that the author references some statements from Lavy and the team about Bryzgalov earlier in the POs and the point there is that the confidence everyone talks about having in the goalie is just PR, nothing more.

Yes the Flyers deserved what they got last night but if Bryzgalov had played well for 60 he could've won that game and he didn't. He had zero help, granted. But isn't it the goalie's job once in awhile to steal a game when the skaters are out to lunch?

Before anyone claims I'm "blaming Bryz" or that the writer is not a hockey guy - I'll stipulate the 2nd and deny the 1st. I'm not blaming Bryzgalov at all, I'm only saying it was a missed opportunity for him to steal a big win when the skaters obviously had no interest in competing for it.

Edited May 2, 2012 by canoli

[brelic]

http://www.philly.co...en_shrinks.html

This writer makes the point that, while it was undoubtedly a team loss, Bryzgalov faltered in the 3rd, that he couldn't finish the way he started. I think it's a fair point. He did get small (again) on Larsen's goal and it was an easy put-away for a non-goal scorer. Beyond that the author references some statements from Lavy and the team about Bryzgalov earlier in the POs and the point there is that the confidence everyone talks about having in the goalie is just PR, nothing more.

Yes the Flyers deserved what they got last night but if Bryzgalov had played well for 60 he could've won that game and he didn't. He had zero help, granted. But isn't it the goalie's job once in awhile to steal a game when the skaters are out to lunch?

Before anyone claims I'm "blaming Bryz" or that the writer is not a hockey guy - I'll stipulate the 2nd and deny the 1st. I'm not blaming Bryzgalov at all, I'm only saying it was a missed opportunity for him to steal a big win when the skaters obviously had no interest in competing for it.

Disclaimer: I didn't see the game... the best I could do was listen to the audio feed.

But when your team takes 18:30 minutes to get a shot on goal, and you've just turned away 15 of them, some of them quite difficult, you've done your job to keep them in the game. Not sure where ALL the skaters went last night, but it wasn't at the WFC.

[mojo1917]

I'm only saying it was a missed opportunity for him to steal a big win when the skaters obviously had no interest in competing for it.

agreed.

he played well enough that if his teammates win 1 individual battle and 2 puck races they still could have won. and that's saying something.

NJ has good players and a championship goalkeeper i didn't think they'd roll over; but i also didn't think our guys would stop playing either, i'm going to chalk that up to one of those nights, pucks skipped our sticks and got caught in their sweaters, it was due to effort, but sometimes when you're not getting any breaks it's hard to keep moving your feet.

[canoli]

No I know, like I tried to say it would've required a substantial effort by 1 guy - the goaltender - to win that game last night. I'm just wondering whether we don't have a "right" to expect that once in awhile?

And I do mean ONE guy. He was the only one playing with a purpose - well, Coby had a good game too, and I like Wellwood's speed as always. JVR was "okay," not as bad as most.

[flyerrod]

Maybe the rest of the team wanted Bryz to know what it is like without support........or after the first 2 calls by Bettman's buddies let them know how the game was going to be called, they decided to not play at all.....The call on JVR was beyond ridiculous and the one on Timmo was a stretch too. Lee and Sutherland should not call a mites game much less a playoff one......

Caveat.....No one had blamed the refs yet so I thought it should be thrown out there........

(sarcasm font)

[Digityman]

@canoli

I think of it like this - that was game #4 (10-3 loss) against the Pens all over again except this time Bryz was able to keep the score down and the Devils aren't nearly as gifted offensively as the Pens.

I don't think Bryz played amazing. He played well. He was in the right spots at the right time but there was a point in the game where you could see his frustration and he was starting to give up. That's when the 3rd and 4th goals went in. If I remember right it happened in the 3rd when Bryz went behind his net to play the puck and hung out there for a second with the dman then skated slowly to the front of the net. You could just see the team had given up and there was no fight left.

[PHI Flyers10]

I don't think it's too fair. It would have been nice if Bryz could have played out of his mind and stolen that game but the Larsson shot was from right in front up him up high. It's hard to expect to stop that. The second goal was in no way his fault, and the third was a little off but the puck ramped on the wraparound and Zajac was able to skate uncontested in front of the net. I don't blame Bryz at all last night.

[Green Man]

So let me get this straight, the team plays like **** for 3/4 of the game and somehow it all comes back to the goalie?

Yup, sounds like the Philly media looking for a story where there is none.

[radoran]

@canoli

I think of it like this - that was game #4 (10-3 loss) against the Pens all over again except this time Bryz was able to keep the score down and the Devils aren't nearly as gifted offensively as the Pens.

I don't think Bryz played amazing. He played well. He was in the right spots at the right time but there was a point in the game where you could see his frustration and he was starting to give up. That's when the 3rd and 4th goals went in. If I remember right it happened in the 3rd when Bryz went behind his net to play the puck and hung out there for a second with the dman then skated slowly to the front of the net. You could just see the team had given up and there was no fight left.

The fourth goal was an empty-netter...

The Flyers players lost that game. Not the goaltender. Why we don't have the right to expect the team to compete for 60 minutes against a division rival in the playoffs at home is beyond me.

Oh, wait. We do have that right.

We're just disappointed at times.

11 to go. Flyers in 6.

[radoran]

Sweet Jeebus, I just realized this was Phil Sheridan.

I have a pile of toenail clippings with more hockey sense than Phil Sheridan.

[JackStraw]

When a team gets completely outplayed, and that team's goalie is pretty much the team's best player in that game, and the only thing a sportswriter can come up with is an article about the goalie, something is very wrong.

[AndyS]

The one game where he played really well & the rest of the team takes the night off?

Just idiotic. Apparently he needs to play poorly so the rest of the team plays hard for 60 minutes.

[mdeaglesfan]

Why not write an article about how the best player in the world lost all the key FO's he took and generally crapped all over the ice last night. I luv G as much as anyone, but if he wants to wear the C, he better accept the blame. He stunk last night.

[Bertmega]

@AndyS

I was thinking the same thing. After the 3rd PP in the 2nd period I said that he should let in two softies to make the score 2-1. Then maybe Lavy would figure on how to get them going again.

I couldn't count how many icings I saw yesterday, how many blind passes, centers standing around, defensemen not supporting thier centers behing the net in the D zone. It all was too frustrating.

Hartnell looks like, well, Hartnell of old. I thought he was skating through quicksand. Jagr was completely ineffective, etc. Lavy shakes up the lines with no avail. Coburn pinches with Carle left to defend, etc. The game was just a mess and I hope they get their act together because Jersey should not be taken lightly.

I am pissed just typing this.

[sarsippius]

The game was just a mess and I hope they get their act together because Jersey should not be taken lightly.

I am pissed just typing this.

Vent brother, that's why we have this group therapy forum.

Game 3 tomorrow, Lavy will have the boys ready

[canoli]

Okay. Well I thought the guy made some good points - esp about the quotes from Lavy and the players, the stuff they said and the stuff they didn't say. But I'm generally less critical than you guys - if a guy makes a point I agree with I don't care if he's never skated a day in his life, or saw the Flyers at the Spectrum etc.

Regarding the game last night, obviously there were gigantic holes in every aspect of our game. I just think it's fair to include Bryzgalov in the mix, since he didn't exactly play great in the 3rd period. Somebody said Larsson's goal was point-blank and it was, sort of. Brzygalov went down to smother the puck and missed, leaving the top of the net wide open. Larsson flicked it up and over and in.

I think Digi has it exactly right, that play behind the net when he got tangled up playing the puck, you could see he was likely thinking "screw this." It wasn't a turning point or anything - there were no turning points last night, the Devils owned us the whole way after the 1st.

[Bertmega]

@sarsippius

I am sure he [Lavy] will.

They are a good team that took a night off. It happens, I just hope they don't do that again.

[bryanc]

http://www.philly.co...en_shrinks.html

This writer makes the point that, while it was undoubtedly a team loss, Bryzgalov faltered in the 3rd, that he couldn't finish the way he started. I think it's a fair point. He did get small (again) on Larsen's goal and it was an easy put-away for a non-goal scorer. Beyond that the author references some statements from Lavy and the team about Bryzgalov earlier in the POs and the point there is that the confidence everyone talks about having in the goalie is just PR, nothing more.

Yes the Flyers deserved what they got last night but if Bryzgalov had played well for 60 he could've won that game and he didn't. He had zero help, granted. But isn't it the goalie's job once in awhile to steal a game when the skaters are out to lunch?

Before anyone claims I'm "blaming Bryz" or that the writer is not a hockey guy - I'll stipulate the 2nd and deny the 1st. I'm not blaming Bryzgalov at all, I'm only saying it was a missed opportunity for him to steal a big win when the skaters obviously had no interest in competing for it.

Fair post. As I was watching the game, at the end of the second, I was thinking much of the same thing -- that Bryz needed to steal the game if the Flyers were going to win at all. Sometimes a goalie is able to do that, but most of the time he can't. Niemi didn't steal a single game for the Blackhawks in their cup run (granted Niemi had two shut outs in the first series, but it was against the Predators, who aren't exactly stacked on offense and B), the Blackhawks were playing very strong in front of him, unlike the Flyers last night).

while it would have been nice for Bryz to have shut the door, the Flyers were playing so poorly in front of him that it is really a team loss. Agreed it was a missed opportunity, but really the flyers needed to step it up when they came out in the third and they failed.

[radoran]

I couldn't count how many icings I saw yesterday, how many blind passes, centers standing around, defensemen not supporting thier centers behing the net in the D zone. It all was too frustrating.

Wanna see a center "standing around"?

Check out Briere on Zajac's goal: http://video.nhl.com/videocenter/console

[radoran]

Okay. Well I thought the guy made some good points - esp about the quotes from Lavy and the players, the stuff they said and the stuff they didn't say. But I'm generally less critical than you guys - if a guy makes a point I agree with I don't care if he's never skated a day in his life, or saw the Flyers at the Spectrum etc.

I've just been reading Phil Sheridan for long enough to know he doesn't know his ass from a hole in the ground - doubly so when it comes to hockey.

And I got banned from philly.com for an epic takedown of his crap (among other things, like telling the mods they couldn't ban me for that lol).

It would have been nice for Bryz to steal a game in which the rest of the team apparently decides not to show up. I guess, for me, I would rather have had the team show up.

Go look at the goal videos:

Larsson: sheds Briere like a sweater in July and roofs one point blank. Stoppable? Possibly. Would it have made a difference? Not with the way they played the rest of the game (and let's not pretend a "big stop" was going to "wake them up" because many other "big stops" did not).

Clarkson: Devils are all over the Flyers. Parise gets the puck alone, in front and IS stoned by Bryzgalov and then Clarkson is part of a swarm that overwhelms the net. That's not on Bryz IMO.

Zajac: takes the puck from behind the net as Briere stands in the slot apparently wondering where his popcorn is and Lilja is totally out of position. That's not on Bryz.

Generally, when a goalie "steals" a game, the team in front of him isn't playing absolutely abysmal hockey. If the team in front of you is losing virtually every puck battle, is being beaten to virtually every open puck and is spending the vast majority of time in your zone? You're going to give up goals. When you go 18:30 without even managing a shot on goal? You're going to lose more often than you win.

That's the problem in Game Two. Not Bryz.

11 to go. Flyers in 6.

[idahophilly]

@canoli... Bryz simply wasnt the problem. You have to admit, you wont give Bryz a break. Im not sure you ever have...

[AndyS]

Lilja was WAY out of position on that one goal. Terrible play.

I still think the Flyers win this series, but we could easily be down 2-0 right now. Think about that.

I hope Lavy says exactly that to his club.

[canoli]

@canoli... Bryz simply wasnt the problem. You have to admit, you wont give Bryz a break. Im not sure you ever have...

I said several times "I'm not blaming Bryzgalov." How much more clear can I be? I said it would've taken a substantial effort from one guy, namely Bryzgalov, to win that game for us last night, since he was the only guy who came to play after the 1st.

As far as "giving him a break" I've congratulated him a few times this season, most recently for his effort in sending the Pens packing in G5 and 6. But what's so terrible about saying his focus wandered as the game went on?

Nobody is debating it was a "team loss" - I used that exact phrase in my original post. And I agree with Rad, when a goalie steals a game the skaters are generally at least trying to compete for the win. Our guys didn't compete at all after the first period.

Still...who knows? Imagine Bryzgalov is tracking the puck in the 3rd just as well as he was in the 1st. Maybe he gets the shutout and we win 1-0. Is that "blaming" him? Not at all, it's merely pointing out that - for whatever reasons, valid or otherwise - he wasn't as good in the 3rd as he was in the 1st.

So I hate him and I hate his dumb contract even more. So sue me! I'll go out on a limb and say there are goaltenders in the NHL who could've won that game last night, as bad as the Flyers were. It's unprovable so let's not argue it, but don't ya think it could've been done by a goalie who's on his game?

[RonJeremy]

CANOLI, I agree with you, although there was no team support for Bryz, I do feel the Larsson goal was a bit weak. Once larsson got the puck he skated in and Bryz was not out of the net and square to the shooter. It was a pretty routine shot, poor positioning is the only reason that goal was scored. A true money goalie stops that shot. He looked good for most of the game,he was square to the shooters and looking poised, but once the Devils got that first goal, Bryz seemed to revert to his timid stle of goaltending, hiding in the net and not reacting quickly to the action around his net.

Bryz's biggest problems are as follows..

He stays too far back in the net and does not come out and challange shooters and cut down the angle, he does not make himslef big in the net, he kinda slouches down and gives up goals that would be stopped by standing up more. Also by staying too deep in the net he has lots of shots trickle off him into the net.

He loses focus when there is action behind the net, and gets beat off these little cheap scrambles in front, because most of the time he has no clue where the puck is.

His puck handling skills are horrible

I think he is not mentally strong enough to handle playing in Philly, he has no fire in him at all

He is no way near worth the $$ we paid him, and if we can buy him out when theres a new CBA, I would do it. If we do win a cup in wont be due to Bryz, it will be in spite of him. He is no better than Leighton or Boosh.

[OccamsRazor]

Wanna see a center "standing around"?

Check out Briere on Zajac's goal: http://video.nhl.com...ocenter/console

Yeah leads NHL is goals yet also leads the team with a -5!!!!!!!!

All that is on the line like they say, play hockey ALL YOUR FRIGGIN LIFE and yet you still don't know who to effin cover!!! That or he's just not INTERESTED in it either way it's a phucking SHAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!