Philadelphia Flyers veteran goalie Ilya Bryzgalov needs to build confidence for better season -NHL
There is no doubt in the fact that Ilya Bryzgalov could not meet the expectations of Philadelphia Flyers after the Eastern Conference franchise signed him on to a huge, $51 million, nine-year deal last year after he became an unrestricted free agent.
Bryzgalov was good with Phoenix Coyotes, but amazingly, the team that he had left to improve Philadelphia Flyers, went on to the Western Conference Finals for the first time ever as young goalie Mike Smith took the lead.
There is never any telling what might happen when players shift around in the National Hockey League (NHL), but anything can spark and for Bryzgalov, that flame needs the spark of confidence to burn.
The 32-year-old was at his peak back in the 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 regular seasons as he maintained a .920 and .921 save percentage respectively. This past season was obviously disappointing as the veteran help .909 in fewer games played along with 2.48
goals-against average.
As the playoffs came around the corner, Bryzgalov was the ray of hope for Philadelphia, but instead, the goalie disappointed even further as his confidence dropped down to new lows with a .887 save percentage and even worse 3.46 goals-against average.
Philadelphia Flyers general manager, Paul Holmgren, obviously signed him on to add depth in the goaltending department, gave him the starting spot over Sergei Bobrovsky and a $6 million a year contract. Some may term this past season as one to allow the
goalie to adjust into his position, but inside sources are regarding the Philadelphia management’s attitude towards the goalie growing stern day by day.
Next season will be the ultimate test for Ilya Bryzgalov and if he is not able to come up big in the end for them, Philadelphia is reportedly willing to go all out and ship him off to bring on board some young blood.
Philadelphia Flyers obviously need a Vezina Trophy winning goalie next season and if Bryzgalov cannot satisfy, then maybe the Russian should opt in looking for another club like Roberto Luongo is at the moment after failing Vancouver Canucks in the playoffs.
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