maybe Bryz can only put the team on his back when he is surrounded by no defensive talent. I mean he carried Pheonix to the playoffs with no total talent, and didn't become amazing until half our defence went down.
I guess he knows he has to do it by himself and can't rely on anyone else.
PHILADELPHIA — As the running clock was ticking away, Ilya Bryzgalov says he didn’t know fan support in the form of a chant had broken out at Wells Fargo Center:
Bryz, Bryz, Bryz!
“I was so concentrating on the game I didn’t hear,” the red-hot goalie said Thursday night after posting his second shutout of the week in a 5-0 Flyers victory over the Florida Panthers. “If they were cheering for me, that’s very nice and very kind of them. From hating to love!”
Yeah, not long ago Bryzgalov wasn’t the most popular guy anywhere the Flyers played.
Hearing the chant from the Flyers bench, All-Star winger Scott Hartnell joked, “I thought we were in Winnipeg.”
Jets fans serenaded Bryzgalov on Feb. 21 for not wanting to play in their city, a mocking that came three days after he heard it from Flyers fans for a bad performance against Pittsburgh that added to what had been a very inconsistent season.
But now Bryzgalov, who saved all 28 shots Florida fired his way, is hotter than he’s been all season with a 7-2-1 record, 1.95 goals-against average, .926 save percentage and three shutouts over his last 11 games.
This is how Bryzgalov played in recent seasons for the Phoenix Coyotes, which was why the Flyers traded for him last summer and then committed $51 million to him for nine seasons.
“We’ve always believed in Ilya here in our dressing room,” said Hartnell, who scored the Flyers’ third goal on a second-period breakaway. “I think he’s obviously winning some fans now. His confidence, I think, is growing and growing, and I don’t think we’ve seen the best in Bryz yet.”
Jaromir Jagr thinks the biggest difference now in Bryzgalov is his heavier workload of late. Backup Sergei Bobrovsky saw a lot of action in the first half of the season, but Bryz has gotten most of the starts since, including the last 10 games.
This formula worked the last few years in Phoenix and appears to be a ticket to success again now, too.
“That’s the way I see it,” said Jagr, who played through hip and knee soreness to score the Flyers’ fourth goal. “He likes to play games, especially right now. You’ve got a lot of games, and that’s what he likes.”
(Page 2 of 2)
Bryzgalov had a lot of support in this one as the Flyers blocked 18 shots, a dozen of them coming from a defense that, not including Chris Pronger, was minus three regulars.
Besides Kimmo Timonen and Andrej Meszaros missing their third games in a row with lower-body injuries, Pavel Kubina sat this one out with an upper-body injury.
Winger Jakub Voracek also missed the game, although his body language watching from the press box signaled that he’s recovering quickly from the nasty head shot he took in Tuesday’s win over Detroit.
“Even though we’ve had some injuries, it seems like we’re playing tighter,” Hartnell said. “We’ve not doing too many fancy plays in our zone, and we’re scoring some goals as well.”
Against Florida, the Flyers got three more goals from rookies as Brayden Schenn, Matt Read and Eric Wellwood scored.
The win was the Flyers’ fourth in a row, their best run since winning a season-best seven in a row in December.
Playing in his 800th NHL game, Danny Briere earned two assists but didn’t score a goal for the 21st game in a row, this streak continuing despite three good chances in the second period, one of which hit the post.
“I think I’m retiring from scoring goals,” Briere said. “It’s just not happening anymore. The chances are there, but I just can’t finish. But I’m not too worried about that. It’s going to turn around.”
Briere said it was “really cool” hearing the ovation Flyers fans gave him when his milestone was announced to the crowd, and almost as enjoyable was hearing everyone yelling for Bryzgalov.
“It was a good feeling, and I’m sure even more for him,” Briere said. “If you start playing well, the fans here are going to support you and it’s always a good feeling.”
It's realllllllllllllllllllly weird seeing that as the head of a news article from Philly. I'm not quite sure I'm ready for it...
maybe Bryz can only put the team on his back when he is surrounded by no defensive talent. I mean he carried Pheonix to the playoffs with no total talent, and didn't become amazing until half our defence went down.
I guess he knows he has to do it by himself and can't rely on anyone else.
This is simply not true. Phoenix doesn't have as much elite talent as other teams but they are solid and play good defensively. He carried them, but he wasn't alone.
Bryz' revival came for a number of reasons:
- he stopped letting himself be distracted by the media and is just concentrating on playing the game. I am not blaming the media, but he was trying too hard to appease them and it was taking away from his game. He's better now.
- he finally got a chance to play a whole bunch of games in a row which is the workload he was used to in PHX. We need to get Bob some games soon, but when?
- Homer added two great big strong Dmen before the deadline, improving the team and addressing a major need for size.
- he must have continued to be a good teammate even when he was really struggling, because the team never game up on him. Now they are playing for him.
Last night, it's worth pointing out, MATT CARLE tried to fight a guy who ran Bryz over.....
So finally playing like a franchise goalie for a few games automatically erases the giant BUM that played in the net for the majority of the year?
For most people, yes.
I don't know if I'm ready to give him the pass yet, but I have to say it feels good to be comfortable when opposing teams are in our zone for the first time in years.
The city of Philadelphia doesn't want to hate Bryzgalov, but they will if they have to. That's pretty much what this amounts to.
I've moved from spiteful and angry to cautiously optimistic and temporarily comfortable.
Last edited by Chris Shafer: 03-09-2012 at 11:53 AM.
- he stopped letting himself be distracted by the media and is just concentrating on playing the game. I am not blaming the media, but he was trying too hard to appease them and it was taking away from his game. He's better now.
Agreed.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Larry44
- he finally got a chance to play a whole bunch of games in a row which is the workload he was used to in PHX. We need to get Bob some games soon, but when?
Agreed.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Larry44
- Homer added two great big strong Dmen before the deadline, improving the team and addressing a major need for size.
Disagree. Despite how it appears when Bryzgalov is making saves, our defense was better before. I know someone will retort with something about how the defense "wasn't playing for Bryz" or something to that effect, but Timonen, Coburn, Meszaros, and Carle is a very good top four. People blamed them quite a bit for Bryzgalov's problems. Our defense wasn't elite anymore when missing the key forwards and Pronger himself, but it was very good.
I will say that Grossmann and Kubina did turn the corner for the defense from very good to elite once everyone is healthy. We have seen that lineup healthy yet to credit Holmgren's additions just yet.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Larry44
- he must have continued to be a good teammate even when he was really struggling, because the team never game up on him. Now they are playing for him.
This doesn't make sense. We were playing fine in front of him pretty much the whole time. Of course there were a few games where the team sucked on the ice, but that happens. I didn't see anyone not playing for him.
This was all on Bryz, as I've said over and over. So he gets all the credit for turning it around.
I think the improvement in Bryz comes from him realizing its not all him its about the team u can tell in his interview hes not talking about Bryz he talks about the team..
Wrong! He was a bum for two months of the year. The first month and the month HBO followed the Flyers around.
October 9GP 4-4-1, 3.16GAA .880 SP
November 7GP 4-1-1, 2.52GAA, .918 SP
December 10GP 6-3-1, 3.20GAA, .878 SP
January 8GP 4-2-2, 2.67GAA, .912 SP
February 10GP 4-3-1, 2.28GAA, .909 SP
March 3GP, 3-0-0, 1.67GAA, .948 SP
Actually...
Outside of a small stretch in November (the month with the least games played for him), he was bad from the start all the way through to the end of February when this current streak of his started.
And on top of that, he was never really "great" until his current streak. There were times this season where he was passable, and the team in front of him did the rest. Still, he was never like this before.
The above chart is a bad use of statistics. It doesn't display the reality of the situation. Basically it's as bad a stat line as +/-.
Wrong! He was a bum for two months of the year. The first month and the month HBO followed the Flyers around.
October 9GP 4-4-1, 3.16GAA .880 SP
November 7GP 4-1-1, 2.52GAA, .918 SP
December 10GP 6-3-1, 3.20GAA, .878 SP
January 8GP 4-2-2, 2.67GAA, .912 SP
February 10GP 4-3-1, 2.28GAA, .909 SP
March 3GP, 3-0-0, 1.67GAA, .948 SP
I do not want to use word bum but 1st, 3rd were crap. December was kind of up and down. Feb was very average due to very soft goals in 2 -3 games. That's 3 out of 5 not counting March. I am sure there were a few games here an there when he was pulled and I do not think it counted.
Very average season so far and I did not even mentioned his SO record. Let's see what he can do in March.
Thanks god we are great o-sve team otherwise it would look real bad.
Boucher in 2010-11
Oct 4 games .898
Nov 4 games .904
Dec 8 games .936
Jan 6 games .914
Feb 6 games .931
Mar 6 games .903
As you can see numbers are a wash. We need Bryzgalov to maintain around .920. This is why he is getting paid that much and this is why we brough him here. To be consistent and make timely save.
I don't know if I'm ready to give him the pass yet, but I have to say it feels good to be comfortable when opposing teams are in our zone for the first time in years.
The city of Philadelphia doesn't want to hate Bryzgalov, but they will if they have to. That's pretty much what this amounts too.
I've moved from spiteful and angry to cautiously optimistic and temporarily comfortable.
that sums up my feelings perfectly on this situation..
if Bryzgalov can maintain a good confidence level he will be fine. That was/is one of the issues with him this season so far.
i do see him getting a break here very soon tho. Maybe this weekend
[QUOTE=Larry44;45792775
Last night, it's worth pointing out, MATT CARLE tried to fight a guy who ran Bryz over.....[/QUOTE]
I like the above. The sense of devotion for your fellow teammate has skyrocketed the past few weeks.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris Shafer
For most people, yes.
I don't know if I'm ready to give him the pass yet, but I have to say it feels good to be comfortable when opposing teams are in our zone for the first time in years.
The city of Philadelphia doesn't want to hate Bryzgalov, but they will if they have to. That's pretty much what this amounts to.
I've moved from spiteful and angry to cautiously optimistic and temporarily comfortable.
That was/is one of the issues with him this season so far. i do see him getting a break here very soon tho. Maybe this weekend
It's tricky coming off a shutout, but the logical choice is to sit him against Toronto (Bob is 2-0 against Toronto this season), then have Bryz against New Jersey for the home and home. As we'll recall, Bob got lit up for 6 the last time we played NJ, then Bryz came in and was 8/8 during our furious 3rd period comeback that came up short (6-4). Bryz is 2-0, .983 (1 SO) against NJ this season.
I do not care what he had and when he had it. That's not even the point.
i'll re-phrase:
then why were you ****ing bringing up his weight when he struggled after missing games a few weeks back, if he was not fat anymore?
if i understand you correctly, you weren't saying he was fat when he struggled after missing games, you were telling us that he was fat to start the season ...
OK, i can buy that, i just don't why we were discussing his being fat to start the season a few weeks ago, if he was no longer fat
then why were you ****ing bringing up his weight when he struggled after missing games a few weeks back, if he was not fat anymore?
so you weren't saying he was fat when he struggled after missing games, you were telling us that he was fat to start the season ...
OK, i can buy that, i just don't why we were discussing his being fat to start the season a few weeks ago, if he was not longer fat
Is this post retarded or what?
By the way him being heavy was there at the start of the seaosn when he was in and out of the woods. You know... When he was wondering wtf is going on and why am I so slow.
You do not have to be fat to be out of shape, you know that right? 15-20lbs is not fat but it is out of shape especially when you play goalie.
then why were you ****ing bringing up his weight when he struggled after missing games a few weeks back, if he was not fat anymore?
if i understand you correctly, you weren't saying he was fat when he struggled after missing games, you were telling us that he was fat to start the season ...
OK, i can buy that, i just don't why we were discussing his being fat to start the season a few weeks ago, if he was no longer fat
what is retarded is you bringing up him being fat at the start of the year, when he struggled a few weeks ago.
What else is retarded is what's at the basis of this argument in the first place. do we have access to fluctuations in players weight from month to month? no. were basing this off "his face looks thinner?"
The whole team was struggling. and right now he's our BEST player. support him man, you know you love him
What? You mean when the team was putting up 2-3 goals per night and was STILL consistently losing, it was the team dragging Bryz down and not vice versa?
