I keep hearing and reading about “pressure” when Ilya Bryzgalov’s name comes up and I disagree that he will have more pressure on him. I understand that places like Phoenix and Anaheim aren’t media hotbeds but when a top-notch Russian goalie makes it to the NHL they don’t do it with little fanfare, they are constantly under a microscope in the Russian newspapers and when they play internationally in big time tournaments and in some cases the 2002 Olympics where he earned a bronze medal.

“First of all, when I came to Philadelphia, I met Mr. [Ed] Snider, Paul Holmgren and other people in the organization. We talked to each other and they told me the philosophy of the team. I like the philosophy of the team – winning, and everything in Philadelphia. I like this philosophy and it’s my philosophy too. I want to win. We talk about hockey, about the life. This is where I want to spend the rest of my career and compete for the Stanley Cup. This is a good spot for me because I like the idea and philosophy of the team.

“I knew Philadelphia was a great team. The highest goal is to win the Stanley Cup every year. This team always drafted a big, aggressive team that doesn’t like to play second number. They always like to play great hockey and they want to dominate. I know it’s a long long time.

“It’s a big, aggressive team that wants to dominate on the ice. The Eastern Conference is probably more open than the Western Conference. That’s all I know. I know the Flyers were twice a Stanley Cup champion in the 70s, lost a couple times in the 90s. Two years ago in the Stanley Cup Final they lost. This year, unfortunately they did not reach their goal.”

Another overlooked aspect of this deal is the fact that he can tutor Sergei Bobrovsky in his native language, which is huge. At 31, for a goaltender, he has at least 5 top-notch seasons in him which should give the Flyers another run or two at the Stanley Cup providing their defense holds up which means Chris Pronger must be healthy at some point this season for that to happen right away. If he’s not healthy this could be another year where the team falls short. Pronger’s health is possibly more important than the goaltending.

“He’s kind of backed it up with his play in the last couple of years in Phoenix,” said Flyers GM Paul Holmgren. “ We view him as one of the top goalies in the league…he speaks his mind….He keeps players loose and keeps players on their toes in the proper way.”

I witnessed him keeping his players loose while covering a practice on Feb 21st of last year at the Class of 1923 Arena. The next night the Coyotes beat the Flyers and Bryzgalov stopped 37 of 39 shots for the win.

I really think the defense in front of Bryzgalov might be compromised. Kimmo Timonen and Matt Carle didn’t end the season on high notes either so nobody should place the entire team’s Stanley Cup hopes squarely on the shoulders of the netminder. It’s not fair and it’s not realistic.

The Flyers Have a Better Collection of Goaltenders

1) Ilya Bryzgalov - #1 guy, unless he gets injured.
2) Sergei Bobrovsky – Clearly the backup but he has to get the job done of #3 will be breathing down his neck to take over his spot. This is good for “BOB” he will have to compete to keep his job all year long.
3) Jason Bacashihua – He hasn’t played in the NHL since ’07. He’s a top-notch AHL goalie and could possibly be an NHL backup once again.
4) Michael Leighton – I think the Flyers might try and move him but if they don’t I think he’s a last resort to call up in case of injury, if it gets bad, then he’s always there.
5) Johan Backlund – He’s still around, he has backup talent for sure but he doesn’t seem to have much of a long range value for this team.
6) Niko Hovinen – I wrote about him here
and by this time next year he could move up quite a few spots next season.
7) Nic Riopel – He’s only 22 and he could be a late bloomer, so maybe in a few year’s he will be the goalie I thought he could be. Right now just making the NHL regularly will be a huge challenge for him.

They have more goalies than this in the system but in my opinion these are the goaltenders who matter most.