Bryzgalov Pours His Heart & Soul, And -- Of Course -- Philly Media Makes Him the Bad Guy

[aziz]

@Phillygrump

like he says, he wears the Orange and Black and that makes him one of us.

jason york, petr nedved, niki zherdev, billy tibbetts, vinny prospal and pavel brendl all wore orange and black. those are a few guys who were actually distasteful due to being lazy or flat out bad people, as opposed to those that just sucked. the list of ones that sucked, well, you know it is long.

there have been many many many players to wear a flyers' jersey that you did not feel obligated to give a broad benefit of the doubt. i mean, stephan ruzicka, were we all jerkfaces for thinking he wasn't someone we wanted on the team? was it wrong for us to hope for joni pitkanen's exit from the flyers?

you are allowed to see flaws in players even if they wear your team's jersey. you do it all the time. we all do it all the time. i can't figure why bryzgalov would be any different, other than his contract indicating he'll wear the jersey for a long time.

Edited May 12, 2012 by aziz

[Flyingswede]

I dont think its a philly thing. Sport journalists failed in sports and thats why they instead write about it and they want to be buddies with the players. Any players who doesnt respond to this will get the cold from media.

[The Quigster]

Basically its very simple, Bryzo is all smoke and mirrors.The guy was on waivers twice,the Flyers waved the money at him and he took it. They didn't get what they paid for. There are a lot of goalies who the Stanley Cup means something,find one! The Caps did!

[Phillygrump]

@aziz

Noticing flaws is fine. Like I said, I'll support him while he works them out.

[Phillygrump]

@aziz

Why do you take one brief portion of what I say and argue against it as if its a separate entire issue? I never implied that people who don't support EVERY player that donned the jersey are jerks.

I just was moved by Bryz pouring his heart out and being as honest as he could be. And in that honesty he mentioned that he's going to correct his mistakes and work harder to get better and he's asked for our support while doing it. I'm on board.

[flyercanuck]

@aziz

Why do you take one brief portion of what I say and argue against it as if its a separate entire issue? I never implied that people who don't support EVERY player that donned the jersey are jerks.

I just was moved by Bryz pouring his heart out and being as honest as he could be. And in that honesty he mentioned that he's going to correct his mistakes and work harder to get better and he's asked for our support while doing it. I'm on board.

So at 32 years of age, he just has to learn how to...

1. square up to the shooter,

2. catch the puck in his glove

3. become laterally mobile

4. learn how to handle a hockey puck

Why didn't he just correct those this year if that's all there is to it? Oh, and work harder. So he made ten million this year but he didn't work hard. And he wants our support? On board? I'd rather water board the bastard.

[Phillygrump]

@flyercanuck

Ok. Don't get on board and support him. I'm going to give him another season. He hasn't always played like this. He is capable of better.

[aziz]

I just was moved by Bryz pouring his heart out and being as honest as he could be.

i didn't see it that way. i saw it as him whining about how unfair it was that people expected him to play well and held him accountable when he didn't. he wants us to shrug his terrible play off like it was no big deal. "guys everyone makes mistakes" is not an acceptable response from a guy who just made $10mil for playing a large role in his team's failure.

[JackStraw]

there have been many many many players to wear a flyers' jersey that you did not feel obligated to give a broad benefit of the doubt. i mean, stephan ruzicka, were we all jerkfaces for thinking he wasn't someone we wanted on the team? was it wrong for us to hope for joni pitkanen's exit from the flyers?

To each his own. I never hoped for Pitkanen's exit. I hoped for his improvement. In all the years that I've been a fan of Philadelphia's sports team, there has been only one player that I genuinely disliked, and didn't want on a team I supported. That was Pete Rose. I went to a bunch of Flyers games and Phillies games when I lived in the area, and a handful of Sixers and Eagles games. I never booed a home team player.

I just really don't get the hate some people have for athletes that play for the teams they support. It's just a friggin' game. It's entertainment. And I seriously doubt that there is one single person on this forum who, if they were in Bryzgalov's place, would walk into Snider's office and offer to tear up his contract and play for free.

[aziz]

To each his own. I never hoped for Pitkanen's exit. I hoped for his improvement

as did i, until i realized he wasn't going to improve. at that point, i wanted him gone.

[mojo1917]

If he's going to be "the guy" then what can be done ? His contract has him here for 8 more years... So if the Mayans are wrong and there is a future, I'm going to want this jack-hole to play better, this is my favorite team, it is going to be a long and miserable eight years if he continues to play the way he did this year, so why wouldn't I hope this year and the end of last year was an aberration and that he will improve. That's what my left brain is saying anyway, my right brain sees the flaws: poor fundamentals and average compete level and thinks the left brain had better stop with all the pot smoking.

[flyercanuck]

@Phillygrump

I'll support him when he starts earning his paycheck and playing like an NHL goalie. I've said this before...if you or I were as inept at what we did for a living, we'd be fired. Think our bosses are going to say "Ya, grump and FC are losing the company millions while we're paying them seven figures, but hopefully they come around and learn their jobs over the next 3 or 4 years? "

The guy made ten million last year and is crying the blues. Ya, I feel for him.

[Phillygrump]

He pretty much just said it was a learning experience for him and he'll adjust.

Lots of players have a bad season.

[flyercanuck]

He pretty much just said it was a learning experience for him and he'll adjust.

Lots of players have a bad season.

Absolutely. How many made ten million though?

[Phillygrump]

@flyercanuck

Ok, so whats your solution FC?

What would you do with him?

[flyercanuck]

Well they HAVE to play him. The money he's making, and the NMC, they have to hope he can at least be decent. I don't think he's as bad as he was this year. I also don't think he's anywhere near as good as his contract would lead you to believe. I just find it hard to believe all these horrible traits he has as a goaltender went unnoticed by Snider and Holmgren. After watching him for the year I just don't see a good goalie there. I mean honestly, what good traits do you see in him? To me his glove hand is bad, his reflexes are bad, his puckhandling is bad. His head is bad. I get that we're 'stuck" with him. It doesn't mean I have to like it. If he serves up another stinker next year, the only hope is for fans to run him out of town to the KHL.

[Phillygrump]

@flyercanuck

So why not support him? That is what I'm advocating.

I mean what else are you going to do?

[aziz]

So why not support him? That is what I'm advocating.

ok, but what does that mean? i'm pretty sure we'll see more terribleness out of him next season, i have no control over having reached that conclusion. there isn't a lot that i can do about my opinion of him without seeing a complete and profound change in how he plays the game. i can support him to the extent that i wish that complete and profound change happens. go bryz go, learn how to skate, become flexible, stop being mentally fragile, rah rah. but, really, that isn't going to happen. the guy sucks. what do you want us to do, pretend he doesn't?

it's not like we're *deciding* to be bitter. we see our team chained to a sieve for the next 8 seasons and can't help but be less than happy about that. the flyers have what is likely a fatal flaw in their team right now that will probably keep them from getting much of anywhere for the foreseeable future. what kind of support can we really summon in light of that?

[Mad Dog]

There are many quotes in his interview that just make you shake your head. This is one of them, "What I lived through this season I wouldn't wish to an enemy".

I mean...... what the f u c k? One can read this and think he had some excruciating agony to go through this season. One can think poor Ilya had to live in barracks, eat porridge, or sleep 2 hours a night. I mean my God, what was so intolerable he had to "live through this season"? All he was asked to do was to justify his $10 mil with his play. That's all. What was so insufferable?

Edited May 13, 2012 by Mad Dog

[Phillygrump]

@aziz

Its been one season aziz. Go pick an argument somewhere else dude. I'm not biting. I'm going to support Bryz and get behind him this season. If you want to be bitter towards the guy go ahead. I don't care what you do.

[aziz]

@Phillygrump

you mean he's been a flyer for one season. he has had a 7 year career, you know. he has been the same goalie the entire time. he has never known how to skate, never been able to stretch out to make saves. when his defense was built to hide his warts, he was pretty ok. when they weren't, he got lit up. and with the single exception while playing behind a cup winning all-star defense, he's blown it in the playoffs like a bad habit.

i still don't know what "i'm going to support bryz" means. does it mean saying he's awesome, regardless of how he actually plays? insisting he's still adjusting while struggling to rank in the top 30 goalies in the league? seems a little....well, whatever. you go ahead and do that.

[Mad Dog]

@aziz

I'm going to support Bryz and get behind him this season.

And there is nothing wrong with that. I will support him as well, like I would support any Flyer. But it's a legit question, Grump... After watching him in Phoenix, after having watched him play here, what makes you think his play will change for the better? His instincts, his glove, his post-to-post movement, his puck handling will most likely stay the way they are. Yes, it's one season *here*, but he is 32 and he has been in league for 5 years (counting full seasons). What makes you hope he can improve on those fundemental deficiencies he has shown?

[Phillygrump]

@aziz

WTF is wrong with you? Why do you just look for an argument with me? You come off as a smug haughty a-hole. You can figure out what "I'm going to support him means." You can interpret it however you like. I don't care.

[Phillygrump]

But it's a legit question, Grump... After watching him in Phoenix, after having watched him play here, what makes you think his play will change for the better?

He's played better than he played last season in his career. I just take offense to aziz jumping all over every little word in my posts. It gets old. The guy likes to argue for the sake of arguing. Its irritating.

I made an innocent comment saying that I'm going to support Bryz. I am unhappy with his season, but I decided I'm ok with him being the goalie here next season. Aziz wants me to explain what fan support is supposed to be now? I have to justify being a supportive fan to that guy?

I'm going to be Bryz fan. You guys can take that however you like.

[Phillygrump]

Holy **** guys.

I gotta explain what fan support is now on this forum? I thought Silly.com was dead.