Is it Getting Ugly!?

[xganarchy]

I think the whole thermos thing is Bryz making fun of himself, acknowledging he's been playing horribly. Why is that such a bad thing? I'm sure he feels bad about it. Many goalies have "hot" and "cold" streaks. He's been playing better than this most of his career so hopefully this is just a phase and he gets over it.

[JackStraw]

I think the whole thermos thing is Bryz making fun of himself, acknowledging he's been playing horribly. Why is that such a bad thing? I'm sure he feels bad about it. Many goalies have "hot" and "cold" streaks. He's been playing better than this most of his career so hopefully this is just a phase and he gets over it.

Please take your cool-headed logic and reason elsewhere. This is a Flyers forum where we are required to overreact to anything and everything.

[Flyguys03]

I really believe there's about 0.05% chance the Flyers buy out his contract after only one season, even if there is a penalty-free buyout period. It would be admitting an epic failure, and while they did admit that with Richards and Carter, they were able to trade them and get a nice return before their NTCs kicked in next season. With Bryz, the organization would have to swallow $46M and get absolutely nothing in return.

Yeah, it isn't happening. Hell, I bet they wouldn't buy out pronger's contract either. Though they should.

[Flyguys03]

I don't think the Flyers do anything drastic until firmly establish that Bryz is really WYSIWYG, and that Bob can become the #1. Bob had excellent numbers last year as a rookie, and hopefully he can continue to build on that, but there are no guarantees.

They really can't do anything honestly. They are totally trapped other than a buyout with penalties. NMC and untradeable contract. He is here for the duration unless he dies.

[brelic]

They really can't do anything honestly. They are totally trapped other than a buyout with penalties. NMC and untradeable contract. He is here for the duration unless he dies.

I agree, but the crazy thing is that the buyout terms are actually not that bad, all things considered. There are only 2 of the 16 years (CRAZY, I know) that have a high cap hit. The rest is in the range of $1M and change.

But, at any rate, they run a business, and won't give up on their 'investment' as quickly as some of us fans do

I would wish nothing less than for Bryz to make me look foolish and play up to his potential!

[radoran]

Bob's "Excellent Numbers" as a rookie?

2.59/.915 - indeed, not bad. Still - 19th in GAA, 15th in SV% among goalies with more than 50 starts.

Everybody seems to remember the goalie who was undefeated in January and forget about the one who was winless in April and got pulled against the Islanders.

He had a great October, a stellar November and undefeated (6-0) January. 18-3-2 in those months.

10-10-6 in December, February, March and April.

Pre All-Star: 2.42/.920

Post All-Star: 2.84/.907

Feb-Apr 2011?: 21 starts, 7-7-5

April? 4 starts, 0-1-2, 3.95/.880 - pulled against the Islanders.

When it was crunch time, Bob got crunched. In case anyone was wondering why the Flyers might not have seen Bob as "the answer" to Ed Snider's directive to find a solid #1 G.

To be clear, I would have been fine riding him into this season as the #1 G. That wasn't because of his "excellent numbers" but rather because he showed some great "potential."

I think he got a real raw deal in the Buffalo series and that Lavy handled the situation abysmally.

Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

[Vincent05]

@radoran

Don't know if u remember what happened to the team after the All-Star break. Hard to fault Bob for those numbers, the team showed a lack of effort to put it nicely. I doubt any goalie would've done good with that 2nd half team.

I agree that they should've given Bob another chance at the No.1 spot this year as this team is totally different from last years. Bob was great in the first half and totally blew it during the 2nd half, again it was not all his fault. He bomb in the playoffs but it was a learning experience for him and maybe the total games played had a effect on him.

This team just pisses me off that they have great patience to wait for forwards to develop (except for Patrick Sharp) but totally opposite for goalies and defenseman. Until they figure it out, we will continue to suffer.

[flyercanuck]

Considering Bob was a rookie not used to playing that many games his numbers were good and his collapse predictable. Several of us were saying he was being overplayed last year, but the experience is something for him to build on. I won't get into Bryz' numbers, they speak for themselves (pardon moi whilst I vomit) Bob's "bad" numbers from last year would be a welcome change for our "franchise" goalie this year. Sad.

Think I'll change it up this year. I'm going to go "first half, goalies fault, second half, coaches fault" just for some variety. Getting sick of hating on Bryz.

[Vincent05]

@flyercanuck

Playoffs is Bryz fault right? LMAO

[flyercanuck]

Playoffs is an entire new season. You can even venture out of the "goalie/coach" vortex and blame forwards, defencemen or the Kate Smith/Lauren Hart duet. Looking forward to it Vince.

[radoran]

@radoran

Don't know if u remember what happened to the team after the All-Star break. Hard to fault Bob for those numbers, the team showed a lack of effort to put it nicely. I doubt any goalie would've done good with that 2nd half team.

I agree that they should've given Bob another chance at the No.1 spot this year as this team is totally different from last years. Bob was great in the first half and totally blew it during the 2nd half, again it was not all his fault. He bomb in the playoffs but it was a learning experience for him and maybe the total games played had a effect on him.

This team just pisses me off that they have great patience to wait for forwards to develop (except for Patrick Sharp) but totally opposite for goalies and defenseman. Until they figure it out, we will continue to suffer.

I am quite familiar with the events of last Spring :-) I concur that the team was flailing around at that point and, of course, that team play does have an effect on goalie performance...

Remember, though, that they never intended for Bob to be the breakout rookie in goal. They were going with Boucher and Leighton from the jump (even re-signed Mr. Softee to a two year deal). There were questions about whether Bob would accept going to Glens Falls or back to Russia, before he won the roster spot. Bob played himself into the role - and did well, again, for a rookie.

As for the playoffs, I think Bob got a raw deal. He certainly wasn't the reason they lost Game 1 1-0 and IMO should have been given another shot in Game 3 despite the Game 2 opening problem. IMO, Lavy blew that decision - and badly. Going back to Bob in desperation against Boston was likewise a stupid coaching move.

As was overplaying Bob during the season. Again - what the hell is Laviolette thinking with goalies? Only the Shadow knows...

@FC - the word "Bryzgalov" was intentionally omitted from my post about Bob's numbers - a post which, as noted, was strictly about showing why the Flyers brass in their infinite wisdom might not have seem him as an obvious answer to the Goalie Carousel. This has nothing to do with "Bryzgalov."

[jammer2]

One game in a whole season does not mean much, but if the Hawks come in here, after hoisting the cup in the this building....and blow Bryz out of the water, things will get beyond ugly. This is a statement game, for Bryz and the Flyers. They owe the Hawks big time. Bryz get bombed tonight and Bob gets 3 or 4 in a row, regardless of how he plays....just to see if Bob can get in groove with multiple games....just my take.

Is anyone else taken aback by the buy out calculator? Just seeing 2027 in black and white is scary beyond belief....lol. Doubt it happens, but imagine being in 2018-2020 and losing 5 or 6 mill in cap hit for 2 years for a guy who almost a decade removed from the roster??? Preposterous.

Edited January 5, 2012 by jammer2

[Mad Dog]

I fully expect him to work hard and raise his game back to the level that got him the big contract.

Let's put it this way. If he cannot improve his game, we are in a real trouble. I cannot imagine him playing any worse at this point. This is honestly the worst I've seen the Flyers' goaltender play during a regular season since I started watching this team play since mid-80's. And that says a lot because there were some pretty average goalies on this team. But this is by far the worst performance I've ever witnessed.