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Next week, I plan to write an in-depth blog on Ilya Bryzgalov. I have given myself a little time to digest his roller coaster season, and let others have their say. Depending upon the perspective (and agenda) being presented, the Bryzgalov discussions tend to hone in on one of three areas to the exclusion of the others:
* How bad/explainable was his 2011-12 season, and is he a "Stanley Cup caliber goalie"?
* His personality: media and teammate relationships, pressure of Philly, distractions
* His hefty contract
As far as I'm concerned, it's hard to take an objective look at Bryzgalov without looking at the first and third issues in conjunction. The second one is the least important issue from my perspective (and has been discussed to death), but can't be ignored completely.
One key step toward answering the first question is taking a look at Bryzgalov's performance this season against all of the other starting goalies and split-time starters in the NHL. There is little doubt that the Flyers need greater consistency from Bryzgalov next season, and equally little doubt that the team defense around him needs to get more consistent as well.
In trying to look at Bryzgalov's consistency issues, I started with looking at his statistical splits in both the games the Flyers won and lost with him in goal and then looked at the stat splits for the rest of the NHL starters, both in the regular season and playoffs. What I found on a leaguewide basis is this:
1) Virtually across the board, every starting goalie in the NHL had gaudy-looking numbers in the games his team won. That goes even for the goalies on the bottom teams in the NHL. On the nights where things went well for the team as a whole, the goalies usually plays pretty well, too. Bryzgalov was no exception.
This should not be surprising, as good team defense plus solid goaltending is the surest way to win. No team can regularly win by scoring enough goals to overcome shoddy defense/goaltending. The wide-open Flyers-Penguins' playoff series was an aberration to the style of play that prevails in the league nowadays.
2) Bryzgalov's stats in games the Flyers lost (again, this is a reflection of inconsistent team defense as well as his own inconsistent play) were worse than the won-loss stat splits of the top handful of playoff goalies in the league this season but they really weren't THAT much worse than those of other goalies for 100-plus point teams. For instance, take note of the splits for Pekka Rinne, Tim Thomas, Marc-Andre Fleury and Martin Brodeur.
Ilya Bryzgalov
Regular season
In wins: 34 GP, 1.81 GAA, .936 SV%, 5 SO
In losses: 25 GP, 3.44 GAA, .865 SV%, 1 SO
Playoffs
In wins: 5 GP, 3.13 GAA, .892 SV%
In losses: 6 GP, 3.76 GAA, .882 SV%
Jonathan Quick
Regular season
In wins: 35 GP, 1.32 GAA, .951 SV%, 10 SO
In losses: 34 GP, 2.62 GAA, .904 SV%
Playoffs
In wins: 16 GP, 1.20 GAA, .955 SV%, 3 SO
In losses: 4 GP, 2.30 GAA, .903 SV%
Henrik Lundqvist
Regular season
In wins: 39 GP, 1.51 GAA, .945 SV%, 8 SO
In losses: 23 GP, 2.75 GAA, .904 SV%
Playoffs
In wins: 10 GP, 0.92 GAA, .965 SV%, 3 S0
In losses: 10 GP, 2.82 GAA, .895 SV%
Mike Smith
Regular season
In wins: 38 GP, 1.46 GAA, .955 SV%, 8 SO
In losses: 29 GP, 3.29 GAA, .893 SV%
Playoffs
In wins: 9 GP, 1.35 GAA, .960 SV%
In losses: 7 GP, 2.81 GAA, .925 SV%
Marc-Andre Fleury
Regular season
In wins: 43 GP, 1.94 GAA, .930 SV%, 3 SO
In losses: 24 GP, 3.19 GAA, .880 SV%
Playoffs
In wins: 2 GP, 2.51 GAA, .902 SV%
In losses: 4 GP, 5.79 GAA, .802 SV%
Roberto Luongo
Regular season
In wins: 32 GP, 1.78 GAA, .941 SV%, 5 SO
In losses: 23 GP, 3.34 GAA, .888 SV%
Playoffs
In wins: 0 GP
In losses: 2 GP, 3.59 GAA, .891 SV%
Cory Schneider
Regular season
In wins: 21 GP, 1.56 GAA, .950 SV%, 3 SO
In losses: 12 GP, 2.78 GAA, .909 SV%
Playoffs
In wins: 1 GP, 1.00 GAA, .977 SV%
In losses: 2 GP, 1.47 GAA, .947 SV%
Martin Brodeur
Regular season
In wins: 33 GP, 1.67 GAA, .939 SV%, 3 SO
In losses: 26 GP, 3.39 GAA, .860 SV%
Playoffs
In wins: 14 GP, 1.56 GAA, .939 SV%, 1 SO
In losses: 10 GP, 2.98 GAA, .885 SV%
Tim Thomas
Regular season
In wins: 36 GP, 1.93 GAA, .936 SV%, 5 SO
In losses: 23 GP, 3.17 GAA, .889 SV%
Playoffs
In wins: 3 GP, 1.95 GAA, .932 SV%, 1 SO
In losses: 4 GP, 2.28 GAA, .916 SV%
Pekka Rinne
Regular season
In wins: 45 GP, 1.72 GAA, .945 SV%, 5 SO
In losses: 28 GP, 3.55 GAA, .883 SV%
Playoffs
In wins: 5 GP, 1.20 GAA, .966 SV%, 1 SO
In losses: 5 GP, 2.91 GAA, .876 SV%
Jimmy Howard
Regular season
In wins: 35 GP, 1.51 GAA, .943 SV%, 6 SO
In losses: 22 GP, 3.20 GAA, .882 SV%
Playoffs
In wins: 1 GP, 2.00 GAA, .923 SV%
In losses: 4 GP, 2.80 GAA, .878 SV%
Brian Elliott
Regular season
In wins: 23 GP, 0.97 GAA, .962 SV%, 8 SO
In losses: 15 GP, 2.49 GAA, .910 SV%, 1 SO
Playoffs
In wins: 4 GP, 1.37 GAA, .949 SV%
In losses: 4 GP, 3.30 GAA, .854 SV%
Braden Holtby
Regular season
In wins: 4 GP, 1.86 GAA, .946 SV%, 1 SO
In losses: 3 GP, 3.69 GAA, .889 SV%
Playoffs
In wins: 7 GP, 1.48 GAA, .954 SV%
In losses: 7 GP, 2.39 GAA, .914 SV%
Tomas Vokoun
Regular season
In wins: 26 GP, 1.76 GAA, .941 SV%, 4 SO
In losses: 22 GP, 3.60 GAA, .881 SV%
Playoffs - DNP
Craig Anderson
Regular season
In wins: 33 GP, 1.95 GAA, .940 SV%, 3 SO
In losses: 30 GP, 3.98 GAA, .882 SV%
Playoffs
In wins: 3 GP, 1.31 GAA, .961 SV%, 1 SO
In losses: 4 GP, 2.55 GAA, .905 SV%
Jose Theodore
Regular season
In wins: 24 GP, 1.79 GAA, .939 SV%, 3 SO
In losses: 29 GP, 3.03 GAA, .900 SV%
Playoffs
In wins: 3 GP, 2.38 GAA, .918 SV%, 1 SO
In losses: 2 GP, 2.53 GAA, .919 SV%
Scott Clemmensen
Regular season
In wins: 14 GP, 1.67 GAA, .941 SV%, 1 SO
In losses: 16 GP, 3.56 GAA, .885 SV%
Playoffs
In wins: 1 GP, 0.00 GAA, 1.000 SV%
In losses: 2 GP, 3.34 GAA, .899 SV%
Corey Crawford
Regular season
In wins: 31 GP, 2.06 GAA, .925 SV%
In losses: 26 GP, 3.59 GAA, .875 SV%
Playoffs
In wins: 2 GP, 1.82 GAA, .923 SV%
In losses: 4 GP, 2.96 GAA, .879 SV%
Antti Niemi
Regular season
In wins: 36 GP, 1.67 GAA, .940 SV%, 6 SO
In losses: 32 GP, 3.36 GAA, .881 SV%
Playoffs
In wins: 1 GP, 1.44 GAA, .952 SV%
In losses: 4 GP, 2.81 GAA, .899 SV%
Carey Price
In wins: 26 GP, 1.51 GAA, .949 SV%, 4 SO
In losses: 39 GP, 3.04 GAA, .895
Ryan Miller
In wins: 31 GP, 1.74 GAA, .943 SV%, 5 SO
In losses: 30 GP, 3.47 GAA, .886, 1 SO
Cam Ward
In wins: 30 GP, 1.72 GAA, .942 SV%, 5 SO
In losses: 38 GP, 3.58 GAA, .889 SV%
Miikka Kiprusoff
In wins: 35 GP, 1.81 GAA, .940 SV%, 4 SO
In losses: 35 GP, 2.93 GAA, .899 SV%
Kari Lehtonen
In wins: 32 GP, 1.62 GAA, .947 SV%, 4 SO
In losses: 27 GP, 3.25 GAA, .889 SV%
Semyon Varlamov
In wins: 26 GP, 1.61 GAA, .947 SV%, 4 SO
In losses: 27 GP, 3.60 GAA, .877 SV%
Jean-Sabastien Giguere
In wins: 15 GP, 1.76 GAA, .937 SV%, 1 SO
In losses: 17 GP, 2.80 GAA, .900 SV% , 1 SO
Niklas Backstrom
In wins: 19 GP, 1.55 GAA, .952 SV%, 4 SO
In losses: 27 GP, 3.11 GAA, .890 SV%
Josh Harding
In wins: 16 GP, 1.64 GAA, .946 SV%, 2 SO
In losses: 18 GP, 3.50 GAA, .894 SV%
Jonas Hiller
In wins: 30 GP, 1.52 GAA, .946 SV%, 4 SO
In losses: 43 GP, 3.32 GAA, .884 SV%
Ondrej Pavelec
In wins: 30 GP, 1.77 GAA, .942 SV%, 4 SO
In losses: 38 GP, 3.84 GAA, .878 SV%
Dwayne Roloson
In wins: 13 GP, 2.14 GAA, .935 SV%, 1 SO
In losses: 27 GP, 4.57 GAA, .856 SV%
Mathieu Garon
In wins: 24 GP, 2.08 GAA, .921 SV%, 1 SO
In losses: 24 GP, 3.86 GAA, .879 SV%
James Reimer
In wins: 15 GP, 1.91 GAA, .941 SV%, 3 SO
In losses: 19 GP, 4.11 GAA, .861 SV%
Jonas Gustavsson
In wins: 17 GP, 1.85 GAA, .936 SV%, 3 SO
In losses: 25 GP, 3.76 GAA, .878 SV%, 1 SO
Evgeni Nabokov
In wins: 20 GP, 1.39 GAA, .955 SV%, 2 SO
In losses: 22 GP, 3.58 GAA, .872 SV%
Al Montoya
In wins: 12 GP, 1.81 GAA, .936 SV%
In losses: 19 GP, 3.85 GAA, .869 SV%
Nikolai Khabibulin
In wins: 12 GP, 1.33 GAA, .954 SV%, 2 SO
In losses: 28 GP, 3.27 GAA, .890 SV%
Devan Dubnyk
In wins: 20 GP, 1.81 GAA, .945 SV%, 2 SO
In losses: 27 GP, 3.41 GAA, .886 SV%
Steve Mason
In wins: 16 GP, 1.44 GAA, .958 SV% , 1 SO
In losses: 30 GP, 4.49 GAA, .854 SV%
Curtis Sanford
In wins: 13 GP, 1.63 GAA, .942 SV%, 1 SO
In losses: 23 GP, 3.09 GAA, .897 SV%
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Thirty-four years ago today, the Flyers made one of the biggest trades in club history up to that point. In a move that marked the beginning of the large-scale dismantling of the Broad Street Bullies Cup-winning roster, the Flyers traded defenseman Tom Bladon and forwards Orest Kindrachuk and Ross Lonsberry to the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for the Penguins' first-round pick (6th overall) in the 1978 NHL Draft.
The Flyers used to pick to select defenseman Behn Wilson. Frequent fights (which he rarely lost), a propensity for end-to-end rushes and wildly inconsistent play marked Wilson's tumultuous career in Philadelphia. He could be splendid or he could be awful, depending upon the game or season in question. Wilson was about as undisciplined as a player could be but his unpredictability also made him very entertaining at times.
During the 1978-79 season, Wilson arguably made the biggest immediate splash of any rookie defenseman in club history. Click here for more on Wilson's rookie season, in which he set a still-standing franchise record for goals (13) and points (49) by a first-year defenseman.
Wilson also posted 197 penalty minutes in his rookie year. Below is Wilson's infamous quick knockout of John Hillworth, in which the Flyers defenseman continued to throw punches as his opponent lay on the ice.
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