Greatest goalie in the NHL or greatest goalie in NHL history?
Okay, first off, I just wanna say, I've never been one to get caught up in hype machines. Has Bryz played great recently? Yes. But I'm not gonna go insane like a good amount of Flyers fans usually do and crown him the greatest goalie of all time. To me, he's just the greatest goalie in the NHL currently and until he has a couple more games like tonight, that's all he is.
Now before you go insane and call me a Pens fan in disguise, I do like Bryz and I do hope he keeps it up. Like I said, give it a week and if he has another shutout and some one or two goal game performances, I will relent and acknowledge he is the greatest goaltender in the history of the NHL. But until then, I still say guys like Roy and Brodeur have slight edges on him. Not being a hater, just trying to keep things in perspective. He's awesome and clearly the best goalie currently in the NHL though. Can't wait for the playoffs! Go Flyers!
I hereby go on (revocable) record as recanting everything bad I have said, thought, listened to, read or laughed at that was directed to or about Ilya Bryzgalov, his salary and/or his contract length.
... If he can continue to work around the Philly Media and fans and has found a way for his soul to play in Philadelphia, I see a happy, happy near decade ahead with he end result of the City officially changing its name to Ilyadelphia Pennsylvania
...not that I'm surprised, but people are getting silly. Toronto hit 3 or 4 posts tonight. Bryz played well, but it could have easily been a loss...If they had scored 4 then it would be all about how he sucks (again), but because they didn't go in...he's "in the zone".
...not that I'm surprised, but people are getting silly. Toronto hit 3 or 4 posts tonight. Bryz played well, but it could have easily been a loss...If they had scored 4 then it would be all about how he sucks (again), but because they didn't go in...he's "in the zone".
Lol.
But they didn't go in.
And he sure looks like he's in the zone.
So yeah. Keep trying to find any negative whatsoever. It's your right as a Flyers fan. Have fun with that.
...not that I'm surprised, but people are getting silly. Toronto hit 3 or 4 posts tonight. Bryz played well, but it could have easily been a loss...If they had scored 4 then it would be all about how he sucks (again), but because they didn't go in...he's "in the zone".
Lol.
Ehh..... Thats the thing about goalie though when they are in the zone and playing well things seem to bounce their way... A couple of the posts were off the outside of the bar meaning bryz had his angles played well
4 hit the posts because that is all bryz gave them
...not that I'm surprised, but people are getting silly. Toronto hit 3 or 4 posts tonight. Bryz played well, but it could have easily been a loss...If they had scored 4 then it would be all about how he sucks (again), but because they didn't go in...he's "in the zone".
Lol.
Yes, if they scored four people would say he sucks. But they didn't score four. If he made 100 saves people would be talking about how great he was. But they didn't get 100 shots on goal. And they didn't score four goals. But he did play well and get the shutout.
...not that I'm surprised, but people are getting silly. Toronto hit 3 or 4 posts tonight. Bryz played well, but it could have easily been a loss...If they had scored 4 then it would be all about how he sucks (again), but because they didn't go in...he's "in the zone".
Lol.
I agree with you, but will say that "most" goalies that are on a nice roll typically are also catching a lot of breaks etc.Sometimes things are going your way, and some times they ain't. No Rhyme or reason to it at times.....I do know that Bryz had more than his fair share of crazy redirection and deflection goals against him this year....It was almost chronic, especially in the first period of games....I am really happy things are going his way now.
So yeah. Keep trying to find any negative whatsoever. It's your right as a Flyers fan. Have fun with that.
He is playing more confident. But the same people slobbing him now would be cursing him if the game of inches had went the other way...when it wouldn't have really been his fault in the first place.
I just find it amusing that people look at box scores and flawed statistics to make decisions about how someone is playing.
I agree with you, but will say that "most" goalies that are on a nice roll typically are also catching a lot of breaks etc.Sometimes things are going your way, and some times they ain't. No Rhyme or reason to it at times.....I do know that Bryz had more than his fair share of crazy redirection and deflection goals against him this year....It was almost chronic, especially in the first period of games....I am really happy things are going his way now.
No doubt. The Calgary game is a recent example of this...
Yes, if they scored four people would say he sucks. But they didn't score four. If he made 100 saves people would be talking about how great he was. But they didn't get 100 shots on goal. And they didn't score four goals. But he did play well and get the shutout.
He is playing more confident. But the same people slobbing him now would be cursing him if the game of inches had went the other way...when it wouldn't have really been his fault in the first place.
I just find it amusing that people look at box scores and flawed statistics to make decisions about how someone is playing.
Not to be argumentative, but the game of inches wouldn't make much of a difference because of the night-and-day movement and positioning change with Bryzgalov. Early in the year, he was making awkward saves and getting beaten consistently because he wasn't square to the trajectory of the puck. Most of his saves tonight could have been tipped a good foot in either direction and I'm confident Bryzgalov could have stopped them.
Obviously, Bryzgalov has been trolling the NHL all season. And then Laviolette trolled Bryzgalov by starting Simmonds in the SO.
See, and I beg to differ about Bob. I think Bob can be a legit number one in the NHL. He has all the tools. However, it's going to take some time. This was a guy that never had the opportunity to work with a goaltending coach, so there's going to be some habits that will need to be broken.
With that being said, he's got a good glove hand, his lateral movement is top notch and he squares himself very well to the shooter. He's also improved his stick handling immensely (it's gone from bad to decent). That isn't to say that there isn't room for improvement in his game because there is room.
Bob plays very tentative and doesn't really challenge shooters. He also has a penchant for giving up bad rebounds (funny, that seems to be a recurring theme with Flyers goaltending). There's also communication issues which he's working on improving, but still has some ground to go. On top of it, Bob tries too hard to make a spectacular save. He just needs to keep things simple.
The reality is, Bob could have used a year or two in the AHL. However, with the train wreck environment that Greg Gilbert created, there was no way the Flyers could have sent Bob there without it derailing his development. It was best for Bob to stay here and work with Jeff Reese.
I still think one of the biggest mistakes that Holmgren made was letting Martin Biron walk. He was a solid goalie that would have been a good mentor for Bob. I still don't understand that move. Biron played very well for the Flyers and he definitely earned himself a raise. There was no reason why Holmgren couldn't have gotten a deal done.
I agree with you on most of this. The only thing is I don't think just because a player has the tools to be a star means he will ever be one. Plenty of other things factor into a player being a big league talent. Bob has the athletic ability and reflexes of a #1 goalie but obviously being a goalie also includes mechanics as well as simple hockey sense. If Bob was in the AHL or working on his development with his mechanics and hockey awareness I would agree he might actually develop into something special. But seeing him just repeat the same stuff in the NHL and rarely playing I am not confident he will ever develop and fix all of those issues. As of now I see him as an above average athletic talent with mechanical issues and average awareness. He has his impressive flashes but always gets burned every now and then with his poor mechanics and average hockey sense.
At this point I don't have much confidence in him becoming true reliable #1. I simply feel he has to much to work on and when starting regularly teams are picking apart his flaws.
Some may disagree but I am not worried about Bob ever going to another team and turning into anything big.
Quote:
Originally Posted by hckyplayer8
Disagree whole heartily.
Anybody that saw what the kid could do in his rookie year in the NHL knows the kid can play.
Just like Steve Mason? And Andrew Raycroft? David Aebischer?
Or any of the other 1 year wonders?
Quote:
Originally Posted by zarley zelepukin
I think that Niittymaki is the only guy you mentioned who is comparable to Bob. And even with Nitty, he didn't break into the NHL until he was 25, and didn't have a season with decent numbers until he was 27. He also had some fairly serious injury problems.
Bob is still only 23 and he's clearly got talent. Saying he'll never pick up proper technique when he's only in his second year with a goalie coach is just premature. I don't know for sure, but I'd bet Nitty had some decent instruction in Finland too.
I wasn't really comparing style as much as I was saying Flyers fans have always gotten to excited at the 1st sign of a goalie having talent and gotten to carried away with it. IMO if we are going to give Bob this much credit we might as well give it to many other goalie prospects on all the other teams. All of them do something well and with hard work, proper coaching, and some luck they may all be stars one day.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Breeze 44
same as in other sports....like for instance....Tim Tebow?
Tebow's popularity is for reasons beyond football haha. I think most people who follow football will admit he isn't a good QB.
Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha. This is the bomb tho. Having him play on THIS level when so many dudes wrote him off and were trying to come up with ways to bury him and his salary or trade him or whatever before he was even given 5 seconds to adjust. Now he has and its a beautiful thing to watch. Something i haven't seen in a LONG time. Goalies have strung together 3 or 4 decent games in a row once in a while but this is some GREAT shiznit goin on. He IS our best player and i haven't watched the Flyers and trusted anyone in goal like this since 1987. I hope it lasts like everybody else but i gotta revel in this in the here and now!
...not that I'm surprised, but people are getting silly. Toronto hit 3 or 4 posts tonight. Bryz played well, but it could have easily been a loss...If they had scored 4 then it would be all about how he sucks (again), but because they didn't go in...he's "in the zone".
