Philadelphia Flyers goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov apparently suffered a fracture in his right foot prior to last night's game against the Tampa Bay Lightning. If the injury proves to be serious, his team's playoff sky has just darkened.
Bryzgalov has turned his season around because of team-focused play.
Sean OBrien
New direction
General manager Paul Holmgren was determined to address the Flyers goal crease issues after a shaky end to the 2010-11 regular season led to further turmoil in the playoffs.
After an uneven seven-game Eastern Conference Quarter-Finals victory over the Buffalo Sabres, a Semi-Finals contest against the Boston Bruins took place. Hardly fitting of the term rematch, as the two clubs had historically battled in the prior year's Semi-Finals, the eventual Stanley Cup Champion Bruins demolished the Flyers in four games.
That outcome led team founder and chairman Ed Snider to direct Holmgren to obtain a number 1 goalie, which is something that the media and fans alike had been clamoring for since the 1990s.
'Homer' and his staff reviewed their scouting reports, did their due diligence and obtained the rights to pending free agent Bryzgalov from the Phoenix Coyotes. After a meet-and-greet with the top brass, 'Bryz' was signed to a long-term contract.
Since September
I was initially impressed by Bryzgalov when I saw him at training camp last September, while he was confidently directing his teammates in the defensive zone during practice.
He seemed, like any new player, to be acclimating himself to his new environment. But, this veteran proved to be different than any new player who had ever put on the black practice jersey.
After an average start to the regular season, he slipped off the goal line and descended into some type of self-imposed hockey purgatory. Certainly the loss of Chris Pronger and the team's overall inconsistent defensive efforts were tied to Bryzgalov's ineffectiveness. But, in the 31-year-old's mind, he had ventured off into the wilderness all on his own.
Head coach Peter Laviolette and the Flyers leadership team, which includes various veteran players, continued to work with Bryzgalov and eventually turned his attitude around by February. Since then, he went on a shutout streak, won National Hockey League weekly player awards and seemed to be peaking at exactly the right time.
Potential concern
Any estimates on how long Bryzgalov will be out of action are not yet known. So, Flyers fans can only hope that this issue is either minor, or resolved by the time the playoffs start.
It appears that Philadelphia will finish behind the New York Rangers and Pittsburgh Penguins in the Atlantic Division, which means that they would probably earn the fifth playoff seed in the conference.
Bryzgalov's outstanding play, combined with the Flyers improved defensive efforts, correctly offered hope that any playoff series could be won.
If he is lost for any length of time their chances to make playoff progress would be significantly altered, leaving Laviolette with two likely choices in net. Sergei Bobrovsky, who has had a decent sophomore season and Michael Leighton, who was the team's starting goaltender in the 2010 Cup Final against the Chicago Blackhawks.
Sean O'Brien is based in the Philadelphia region. He has written professionally for over two decades and is currently a Featured Contributor for Yahoo! You can follow him on Twitter @SeanyOB and also read his daily Sports Blog: Insight.
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