Hartzell gave up a huge softie in the playoffs. So they're both Leighton-esque according your "standard". Also, as Brad pointed out the other day, McKay's numbers have been better than Hartzell's throughout their careers until this season, when Hartzell edged him out by a little.
- BringBack25

I enjoyed watching him play. He looked really good. They lost 4-0 so he wasn't going to win that game. Yale out matched them. That goal from the corner under the pads just brought back bad memories.

Unfortunately, they only bring back players that were ACTUALLY here, and only then after they cross the 30 threshhold.
- TheGreat28

I, for one, will welcome Johan Hedberg when he makes his triumphant "return" to Philadelphia.

The kid just left college, why rush him to see if he can step right in. Let him play at the AHL level and get his feet wet.
- Jsaquella

Oh I agree but what I mean is the kid doesn't have a NHL contract yet anyway. his contract starts next year.

I agree with JSaq. Bob had ONE year as a starter, a year that saw him enter the league as a 21 year old with virtually no English skills, first time out of the country. That is a tough thing for anyone to do. And all he did was play 54 games and post a 2.59 GAA and .915 save percentage.

And for this he got basically ONE PERIOD in the playoffs to prove himself. Imagine...Pronger has 2 bad shifts in the 1st period of game 1 that lead to goals...does he get benched for most of the rest of the series. Absolutely not.

The embarassment of a new goalie every period, especially with the team already being a virtual laughingstock in the league where goalies are concerned, was what drove Snider to push Holmgren to sign Bryz.
- TheGreat28

This has been beaten todeath, but in 2011 a goalie magazine produced in Quebec that I always read had a cover story on Bob. They do a very in depth analysis of 1 goalie each couple months and break down his technique. They do a frame by frame photo explanation. Their conculsion was that Bob was the real deal, had excellent technique, good relexes and would only get better as he adjusted to the North american game. It's only one year so far, but it's looking like he's a special tender. It's water under the bridge, but my preference would have been to keep Bob and Bryz. having said all this, if Mason turns out to be the guy, this may all be a moot point.crosses finger.s

Hey, I would have liked to see the Flyers hold onto Bob longer than they did too, but I can't blame his being traded on the coach. The coach was desperately trying to win playoff games. I feel like had a no win goalie situation. Say he stuck with Bob and Bob poop the bed. You'd be telling how Lava ran Bob out of town by playing such a young and inexperienced kid in such a difficult situation.
- Dkos

Bold is where we disagree. Bob had a bad game in his rookie season in his 2nd playoff start and then got sent off to pressbox land.

Lavi (frank)ed that up about as much as humanly possible.

That's something I can blame Holmgren for. Neither Boucher or Leighton gave the team any chance of winning during their starts, so I can't blame Laviolette for not playing them more.

Mason's played solidly, and has gotten the opportunity to play.
- Jsaquella

For the most part I agree...but even so, the smart thing would have been to play Leighton more and sacrifice some games just to get Bryz rest, and perhaps force Homer's hand to get a more capable backup. Running any goalie into the ground will eventually catch up to you, and the worst time for that to happen is at the end of the season or in the playoffs.

You forgot:

-Coached them to the Stanley Cup Finals
- Dkos

No, you forgot:
Benefited from an unbelievable choke job by the Bruins
Not having to face the Rangers or Penguins
Leighton having the run of his life for about 3 weeks or so
and amazingly Pronger, Timonen, Carle and Coburn staying healthy

Sorry, but he was lucky that they even got in that year, Hank makes a save, Bouch gives up a goal and its 9th place. If that happened, he probably would have been gone after being humiliated by Jersey last year.

His mishandling of Bobrovsky and Couturier are enough for me, add to that his foolish stubborn refusal to adjust his system to fit his talent this year and that is that, Lavy needs to go!

Nor did I, and I also don't base my desire to see him fired on just this season. This has been brewing for the past couple years.
- Jsaquella

i would say the same thing about homer...

i would say the same thing about homer...
- isaiah520

It's too late. MacT is already in as the Oilers GM. He was our only option.

Re: Bryzgalov
For the most part he has played pretty well this season, and I could even live with his cap hit, BUT, the fact that his deal has 7 years still to run is sticking point to me. He just is NOT worth a cap hit of 5.7 million for another 7 years.

This is why he needs to be bought out.

This has been beaten todeath, but in 2011 a goalie magazine produced in Quebec that I always read had a cover story on Bob. They do a very in depth analysis of 1 goalie each couple months and break down his technique. They do a frame by frame photo explanation. Their conculsion was that Bob was the real deal, had excellent technique, good relexes and would only get better as he adjusted to the North american game. It's only one year so far, but it's looking like he's a special tender. It's water under the bridge, but my preference would have been to keep Bob and Bryz. having said all this, if Mason turns out to be the guy, this may all be a moot point.crosses finger.s
- Hextall271

Thanks for this!!

I hadn't heard this before. Not that it matters

But as I said a couple of times recently, I liked his work ethic as much as his athleticsm. I thought he had a really good chance of continuing his progression. I guess we'll see.

It's too late. MacT is already in as the Oilers GM. He was our only option.
- mayorofangrytown

poulin and hextall are ex-flyers as well

poulin and hextall are ex-flyers as well
- isaiah520

All kidding aside, I wouldn't mind Poulin returning to Philly as either Coach or GM, he is a very sharp guy and works as hard as anyone.

No, you forgot:
Benefited from an unbelievable choke job by the Bruins
Not having to face the Rangers or Penguins
Leighton having the run of his life for about 3 weeks or so
and amazingly Pronger, Timonen, Carle and Coburn staying healthy

Sorry, but he was lucky that they even got in that year, Hank makes a save, Bouch gives up a goal and its 9th place. If that happened, he probably would have been gone after being humiliated by Jersey last year.

His mishandling of Bobrovsky and Couturier are enough for me, add to that his foolish stubborn refusal to adjust his system to fit his talent this year and that is that, Lavy needs to go!
- BiggE

I admit my memory is not the what it used to be, but I remember it as one of the most exciting playoff runs I've ever seen.

Sorry if I hit a nerve by not jumping on the trash-the-coach bandwagon.

Reminder: Peter Laviolette literally made the decision to start Michael Leighton in game 6 of the 2011 playoffs series versus the Buffalo Sabres. He literally selected Michael Leighton, who had played only 1 NHL game with a 4.00 GAA & .889 sv%, over both Boucher and Bobrovsky. Peter Laviolette literally trusted Michael (frank)ing Leighton over the rookie goalie who'd been our starter through most of the season. All because the kid said he "wasn't ready". This was literally a decision that Peter Laviolette made during the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs. Literally.

Thanks for this!!

I hadn't heard this before. Not that it matters

But as I said a couple of times recently, I liked his work ethic as much as his athleticsm. I thought he had a really good chance of continuing his progression. I guess we'll see.
- TheGreat28

He certainly seemed to be very focused. The pictures of him sitting alone in the stands with his trapper etc.. to me were nice to see. Bryz gets an unfair rap I believe, but I also think he should at least try to come off as being more focused at times.

I admit my memory is not the what it used to be, but I remember it as one of the most exciting playoff runs I've ever seen.

Sorry if I hit a nerve by not jumping on the trash-the-coach bandwagon.
- Dkos

I'm just making the point that if you are going to give Lavy all the credit for their run to the finals in 2010, then you also need to give him the blame for their inability to beat the Rangers or Devils, their terrible showing in games 2-5 against the Devils last spring, and their pitiful performance during this season.

So, I have tix to all 4 remaining games. I want to go, as I love going to Flyers' games. At the same time, it's getting harder and harder to try to embrace this team.

I'm definitely pumped for the Boston game, as it will be Jagr's first game back, and it's a treat to watch him play.

However, for the NJ and NYR games, at the risk of sounding like a neanderthal, I'd love to see those games just turn into wars. I'm talking like the Ottawa game where each team finishes with 3 players left on the bench. I know this team isn't as tough fight-wise as that 03/04 team, but it would at least be entertaining. Won't happen, but I need SOMETHING to look forward to at these games.

So, I have tix to all 4 remaining games. I want to go, as I love going to Flyers' games. At the same time, it's getting harder and harder to try to embrace this team.

I'm definitely pumped for the Boston game, as it will be Jagr's first game back, and it's a treat to watch him play.

However, for the NJ and NYR games, at the risk of sounding like a neanderthal, I'd love to see those games just turn into wars. I'm talking like the Ottawa game where each team finishes with 3 players left on the bench. I know this team isn't as tough fight-wise as that 03/04 team, but it would at least be entertaining. Won't happen, but I need SOMETHING to look forward to at these games.
- jmatchett383

With Flyers luck, they would end up with 10 more concussed players

Reminder: Peter Laviolette literally made the decision to start Michael Leighton in game 6 of the 2011 playoffs series versus the Buffalo Sabres. He literally selected Michael Leighton, who had played only 1 NHL game with a 4.00 GAA & .889 sv%, over both Boucher and Bobrovsky. Peter Laviolette literally trusted Michael (frank)ing Leighton over the rookie goalie who'd been our starter through most of the season. All because the kid said he "wasn't ready". This was literally a decision that Peter Laviolette made during the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs. Literally.
- BulliesPhan87

..and, Michael Leighton was literally the goalie that helped get the Flyers back into the playoff race, and took them to within 2 wins of the SC. I suspect there was some lingering loyalty and a feeling that he might be able to come in and excel like he did vs Boston.

Yep.

Sometimes I wonder why I even bother following the beat writers on Twitter. Often times I just roll my eyes at their comments and I learned long ago to not click on the links to their "stories."
- Scoob

Sometimes I think, why blame the beat writers. It's their job to get people to read what they write, or what they blog. Really the fault should be with the fans who fall for it and buy that nonsense. From the Lindros sleeping with Brind'Amour's wife, to the Richards/Carter nonsense, to this. They write it because they have an audience.

Reminder: Peter Laviolette literally made the decision to start Michael Leighton in game 6 of the 2011 playoffs series versus the Buffalo Sabres. He literally selected Michael Leighton, who had played only 1 NHL game with a 4.00 GAA & .889 sv%, over both Boucher and Bobrovsky. Peter Laviolette literally trusted Michael (frank)ing Leighton over the rookie goalie who'd been our starter through most of the season. All because the kid said he "wasn't ready". This was literally a decision that Peter Laviolette made during the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs. Literally.
- BulliesPhan87

So, Michael Leighton is to Peter Laviolette as Jody Hull is to Roger Neilson?

/what I read

I admit my memory is not the what it used to be, but I remember it as one of the most exciting playoff runs I've ever seen.

Sorry if I hit a nerve by not jumping on the trash-the-coach bandwagon.
- Dkos

A lot of the issues this season rest squarely on the players' shoulders.

But the cluster(frank) surrounding Bobrovsky is mostly on Lavi.

..and, Michael Leighton was literally the goalie that helped get the Flyers back into the playoff race, and took them to within 2 wins of the SC. I suspect there was some lingering loyalty and a feeling that he might be able to come in and excel like he did vs Boston.
- Hextall271

If you think starting a Michael Leighton in game six made any sense at all, I think you need your head checked. Even in light of his Cincerella run, starting that pumpkin was a bloody head scratcher. You call it loyalty, I call it loyalty to a major fault.

EDIT: When he came in against Boston, he'd already performed well enough through the regular season. There was also an injury to our starting goaltender, rather than a momentary loss of confidence. There were volumes more justification for it than this.

So, I have tix to all 4 remaining games. I want to go, as I love going to Flyers' games. At the same time, it's getting harder and harder to try to embrace this team.

I'm definitely pumped for the Boston game, as it will be Jagr's first game back, and it's a treat to watch him play.

However, for the NJ and NYR games, at the risk of sounding like a neanderthal, I'd love to see those games just turn into wars. I'm talking like the Ottawa game where each team finishes with 3 players left on the bench. I know this team isn't as tough fight-wise as that 03/04 team, but it would at least be entertaining. Won't happen, but I need SOMETHING to look forward to at these games.
- jmatchett383

Jagr deserves a really nice ovation when he comes back, IMO.