Oh My God, Our $51 Million Goaltender is Lost in the Woods
Somebody find him!!!
The last time I went to a regular season game with the man behind Philly Phaithful, Dan, the Flyers lost to the Lightning, 8-7. That was almost a year ago, and the game turned out to be one of the more memorable (or forgettable) of last season. So imagine my horror when, again, I plopped my ass into the PP seats, only to see the Flyers defense disappear. Again. And this time, the goalie, our $51 million Russian who came in as a backup after his compatriot understudy gave up five goals, pulled a freakout. It happened exactly when Mark Stuart scored the Jets' eighth goal— Bryz slammed his stick (twice) and motioned something at the bench. It was his Jessie Spano moment. He's so excited. He's so… scared.
Here’s what I wrote about Bryz on Sunday morning:
Telling it like it is something Bryz has done his whole career. When things go well, he credits teammates. When they don’t… well, he let’s them know it. And when it's his fault? He takes the blame.
But he's always blunt.
I hate to play the I’m right card (I don’t, really), but… you know.
As you’ve probably heard by now, Bryz went a little bat-shit nutty after the game:
The full transcript is after the jump. Here are a few, um, highlights:
Q: Was there ever a point where you were confident in this game?
"I have zero confidence in myself right now. (Unintelligible) I am terrible. I will now apologize in front of the fans, in front of my teammates. I don't know what's going on. I have no answer for you guys. I thought in the last game against Montreal, that nothing worse was going to happen. Today was worse."
Q: Is it a matter of simply just working things out?
"I don't know. I don't know. I can't tell anything right now. I am lost in the woods right now."
When the post-game transcript, provided by the organization, includes “unintelligible” as a placeholder, you know things are bad. You also know things are bad when your goaltender – playing perhaps the most confidence-based position in all of sports – says he doesn’t believe in himself and makes some ridiculous analogy about being lost in a forested area.
Bryz is known for his candor and quirkiness, and just three weeks into his nine-year, franchise-shaping, $51 million contract, he’s already bottomed out in front of the tough Philly media.
Just a few days ago, he jokingly complained about hearing the same questions repeatedly, indicating that writers are only going to give a guy a pass if they like him, anyway. Audio here.
They go and do same thing: practice, game, practice, game, sleep, game, practice. You write. You ask questions, sit at a computer, and write it. And it depends, you bring your feelings, your judgement: no I don’t like this guy, I’m going hard at him. Oh I maybe like him, maybe I’m not going to go that hard at him.
Even though he was joking, there was a little bit of Mike Richards in that statement.
This has to work. There is no Plan B if Bryz is a bust. It’s wayyy early, and there’s certainly a lot more evidence that he’ll be just fine – stellar – for the Flyers, but all we can do right now is react. And it’s hard not to wonder, what if? What if he’s a glass case of emotion and can’t hack it here?
What if?
I scared.
Some of you are, too.
Here are a few Tweets I received after the game, about both the defense and the goalie:
They ARE playing NHL 94. And they suck at it.
I think the only solution is to promote Jim McCrossin to head coach and fire Peter, that and start playing the Wide 9.
is Juan Castillo coaching the flyers defense too?
is Bryz gonna jump off the Ben along with the Phanatic? wow
Bustgalov
somewhere carter and @MRichie18 are laughing their ass off #goalieproblems
Oh the horror.
…
Two items of note: When the Flyers were trailing in the final minute, after what I believe was an icing call (not 100% sure because I temporarily blacked out from shock), both Danny Briere and Claude Girox appeared to intentionally break their sticks so they could skate over to the bench, slowly, and give their teammates a brief rest. Not sure if it was shown on TV, but it was a brilliant veteran move.
It also can't be overlooked that the Flyers battled back from an incredible deficit. Had they won that game, we'd be talking about how great they are.
Full Bryz transcript and your highlights are after the jump.
Flyers Goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov
Q: It doesn't look like the same team?
"You ask me if I knew this answer, I'll let you know. I totally lost. I dont' know what's going on."
Q: Was that the strangest game you have been a part of?
"If you have a terrible goalie, its no surprise why there were so many goals."
Q: Was there ever a point where you were confident in this game?
"I have zero confidence in myself right now. (Unintelligible) I am terrible. I will now apologize in front of the fans, in front of my teammates. I don't know what's going on. I have no answer for you guys. I thought in the last game against Montreal, that nothing worse was going to happen. Today was worse."
Q: Do you ever remember feeling like this?
"No."
Q: In your career? This is the lowest you've ever been?
"Yeah. Something new to fight."
Q: Did working with goaltending coach Jeff Reese help at all?
"We didn't have problems with playing the puck. Not yesterday…not tonight. I can't stop the puck. It’s very simple. You can't ask anymore of the forwards. They score eight goals and we are still losing. It’s obviously a terrible goalie…that's me."
Q: Is it harder for you because, it is kind of a mess in front of you?
"You know it doesn't matter. They try and play hard, everybody. Bottom line, I am the goalie. I am the guy that has to stop the puck and clean the mistakes behind them, but I couldn't stop the simple shot. That's why maybe players make more mistakes because they don't have confidence in their goalie. Because the goalie is bad. I am the reason why we lost the game tonight."
Q: Is it a matter of simply just working things out?
"I don't know. I don't know. I can't tell anything right now. I am lost in the woods right now."
