Blog - Internet Is Philadelphia Giving Ilya Bryzgalov a Fair Chance?

[Spinorama]

The Flyers Knew they had a weak defence going into this season, they obtained Bryzgalov to bail out the weak defence

the Flyers thought they had a strong defense and the acquisition of Bryz coupled with the Pronger led strong defense was supposed to bail out the lack of offense we were supposed to have traded away and allow the forwards to get used to playing together. Things have certainly changed since the start of the season but the Flyers thought they were fine on D in the offseason.

[CoffeehousePorcupine]

the Flyers thought they had a strong defense and the acquisition of Bryz coupled with the Pronger led strong defense was supposed to bail out the lack of offense we were supposed to have traded away and allow the forwards to get used to playing together. Things have certainly changed since the start of the season but the Flyers thought they were fine on D in the offseason.

Carle? Timonen ? fine on defence? I need Coffee

[Spinorama]

Carle? Timonen ? fine on defence? I need Coffee

I didn't say I was fine with the defense, I said that the Flyers thought they were fine. haha

[canoli]

you're right Spin, that was the "spin" over the summer - that the Flyers' D was solid and Bryzgalov was going to ease the transition of a weaker offense (supposedly). We maybe wouldn't score so many goals without Carter, Leino, Richards, Versteeg - but it wouldn't matter too much because we had a "true #1 goalie" now - plus our D-men were plenty good enough.

As it turned out of course Bryzgalov is by FAR the weakest link defensively, and we're scoring more goals than anyone.

I don't see the glaring need for defensive help - not this year. Mez has begun to step it up and so has Coburn. Kimmo is still one of the best defenders in the NHL and Carle is Kimmo-lite, which I'm fine with. Bourdon is a welcome surprise, fitting in nicely whoever he skates with - this kid is ready and he'll only get better - and Gus looks to be the same - in a word, "ready."

For all intents and purposes it's the same ol' same ol' in Philly - we need somebody to STOP THE PUCK from going into our net - we need a goaltender. We've already got him but unfortunately Philly hyped itself into believing he wasn't good enough to start this year simply because as a rookie he wore down late in the season. He was judged as if he was a veteran NHL goalie who'd "tailed off" in the 2nd half. The reality was he played twice as many games as he'd ever played before and he was playing behind a team that decided in February they weren't interested in working for wins anymore.

So now Bob sits for weeks on end and his replacement, the "true #1" we brought in stinks up the joint night after night...It's ironic I guess...and unless you can see 9 years down the road there's no end in sight to this madness....

Edited January 24, 2012 by canoli

[Spinorama]

this would've been the perfect season for the Flyers to develop a goalie. Even after they got their supposed number one, everyone still wrote this season off as a rebuilding year anyway with all the new forwards and all the rookies.

ugh, I can only imagine what would've been if the Flyers took that goalie money and got a decent back up or a short term no.1 and spent the rest bolstering the D a little more.

I agree that the D pieces that have come in really have done well considering. MAB is coming along nicely. He's looked pretty darn good considering that even though he isn't replacing Pronger, it must weigh on him a little to know that he in there cause Pronger isn't and might want to step his game up a little more than if he was just your average rookie. I can't wait for Gus to start putting in some "damn, nice play Gus!!!" performances but since he isn't giving me much to complain about, I'll take that as a good thing. Heck, Even Marshall was okay when in there.

[flyercanuck]

The real question here is, is Ilya Bryzgalov giving Philadelphia a fair shake. And the answer to that is a flat out NO!

[canoli]

Heck, Even Marshall was okay when in there.

yep - I am so impressed with this group - from the "can't miss" guys like Schenn and Couturier to the D-men that've been in our system for a bit; they're all stepping up into the NHL like they belong.

Your first sentence says it all for me re: the goaltending situation. You are exactly right imo - "the perfect season" - I'd add "to let Bob gain some much-needed experience as a starting goaltender."

I really don't get it - what is the Flyers' plan for Bob, what is their best hope? That he becomes the greatest off-the-bench goalie the NHL has ever seen? That he's the greatest backup to ever play the game? No, obviously it's all about keeping him as trade-bait (once Mr. Small was signed). And that just pisses me off to no end. Like you said it was the perfect goddamn season - buncha new guys, rookies up the wazoo, fkn Jaromir Jagr of all people to groom a young goalie, get the kid in there for 60 games - again. Now that he knows how it feels - hell now that he can speak some English! He's almost SURE to be better than he was last year as a rookie. And last year was pretty damn good till he got burned out (and till the team quit playing after the AS break).

[mojo1917]

I can't wait for Gus to start putting in some "damn, nice play Gus!!!" performances but since he isn't giving me much to complain about, I'll take that as a good thing.

Gus skates very well and is super calm for a newbie, he's handled himself pretty well in the brief glimpses i've caught of him...

the whole bryzgalov thing is a bummer, i wanted the guy to be solid, just solid, not MAF or Broduer in his prime, just solid, like chris osgood ... stop the sh!t you're supposed to. the way he's going right now, it's like watching michael leighton you see a shot and think how did that get thru him, ? he's right in front of it. this kind of thing really speaks to the mental part of the game and he's gotta toughen up there, like immediately.

[canoli]

well-said. And that last goal - Campbells' - is a prime example of Mental Midgetry in action. How the fk does he not seal off the post there? We're tied, it's a HUGE game for both teams, we're at home...and Campbell just pushes it through him. Really has me disgusted with this guy. And unfortunately there are many more examples just like that one.

[Vanflyer]

well-said. And that last goal - Campbells' - is a prime example of Mental Midgetry in action. How the fk does he not seal off the post there? We're tied, it's a HUGE game for both teams, we're at home...and Campbell just pushes it through him. Really has me disgusted with this guy. And unfortunately there are many more examples just like that one.

You know how the coach and gm have season ending exit interviews? They will need to block out a whole day for his because it will take that long to review all of his deficiencies in detail.

[Spinorama]

Gus skates very well and is super calm for a newbie, he's handled himself pretty well in the brief glimpses i've caught of him...

the whole bryzgalov thing is a bummer, i wanted the guy to be solid, just solid, not MAF or Broduer in his prime, just solid, like chris osgood ... stop the sh!t you're supposed to. the way he's going right now, it's like watching michael leighton you see a shot and think how did that get thru him, ? he's right in front of it. this kind of thing really speaks to the mental part of the game and he's gotta toughen up there, like immediately.

amen!

with Gus, I honestly haven't been able to form an honest opinion of him because of my limited exposure to him but in my mind, if a newbie is on D and I'm not yelling at him, that means he's doing his job well.

ugh bryz... if only he could've been half of what he was advertised to be. What's the average at now for goals needed to be scored to guarantee a win with this guy? 4ish? I'd take him only giving up 2 a game at this point, even for his $10mil. Hopefully he figures out how to reach that point by the POs but as I believe it was @flyercanuck who said, at this point what you see is what you get.

I've even stopped making excuses for the deflections that have plagued him and the team this year. Okay, redirects like those from Carle aside, a goalie should always be in at least sound position to make saves both unexpected and expected (sounds positioning covering the unexpected). But man oh man, like you said, the shots he SHOULD have?!? beyond painful to watch at this point.

[radoran]

You know how the coach and gm have season ending exit interviews? They will need to block out a whole day for his because it will take that long to review all of his deficiencies in detail.

Naturally, they won't talk about any of their OWN deficiencies...

They've made radical changes to every aspect of this organization for the past 35 years looking for another Cup. For most of the past two decades, they've really not changed a thing about the front office (replacing Clarke with Clarke's protege doesn't really cut it).

Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

Ilya Bryzgalov didn't foist himself upon us. The organization did.

Get your pitchforks.

[flyercanuck]

@radoran

Well, one thing I will credit Holmgren with is he does have a lot of really good young talent. Clarke generally traded picks/prospects for older players. Holmgren does do that too much for my liking, but he also utilizes his draft position to the fullest, for the most part. But his trades/signings for older players is still the downfall, and Bryz is just the latest waste of what could be a top up and coming team, with the only thing holding them back being old guys with huge contracts..

Your serve, Mr. Radaslov.

[radoran]

Well, one thing I will credit Holmgren with is he does have a lot of really good young talent. Clarke generally traded picks/prospects for older players. Holmgren does do that too much for my liking, but he also utilizes his draft position to the fullest, for the most part. But his trades/signings for older players is still the downfall, and Bryz is just the latest waste of what could be a top up and coming team, with the only thing holding them back being old guys with huge contracts..

Your serve, Mr. Radaslov.

That's Radrovsky to you, bub ;-)

You can just call me RAD tho...

[flyercanuck]

Oh, I do...I doooo

[JackStraw]

this would've been the perfect season for the Flyers to develop a goalie

YES

[canoli]

View PostSpinorama, on Jan 23, 2012 - 08:00 PM, said:

this would've been the perfect season for the Flyers to develop a goalie

YES

ya and it wasn't like we had to go on a 50-state, 9-province, ?-territory search for someone either.

I guess there's *some* logic to shoring up the goaltending position if you're bringing in a bunch of new faces on offense. You figure you'll struggle to score goals but your D will be solid.

Did they consider the pressure factor, and wonder whether Bryzgalov doesn't handle it well? It sure looked that way to me. The goals he let in during last year's POs were the same ones we're seeing now, guys pushing the puck through him, wide-open 5-hole, same flubs on the puck-handling...

Just wait till Bryzgalov has to play in a Philly PO game. We're toast unless we wise up and start Bob.

[jammer2]

Bryz will feel the heat until he stops giving up back breaking soft goals. He was brought in to stop that....and he has compounded the problem. As I see it, it's as simple as that.