Evening Reading: The Saga Of Bryz In Philly May Continue

Via: Getty Images

The saga of Ilya Bryzgalov in Philadelphia is a long and strange one. It all started with some odd behavior and hilarious quotes while appearing on HBO's 24/7 program. Next came his startling and frank comments to the media about his poor play after bad games, saying he was "lost in the woods". It continues this year, with a story earlier in the season that Bryzgalov was caught sleeping during a team meeting, and again on the bench during a game. Bryzgalov vehemently denied these claims, but it has still affected his image. All of these things could be forgiven though if Bryzgalov had been able to perform at a high level on the ice. He simply hasn't.

In the summer of 2011, Flyers GM Paul Holmgren signed Bryzgalov to a huge 9 year, $51 million dollar contract. Bryzgalov had put up solid numbers as a starter in Phoenix, and Flyers fans hoped that he would be the answer in goal that the team has long been searching for. Those stats regressed slightly during his first regular season in Philly, as to be expected on a Flyers team that is less defensively oriented than the Coyotes. Though he suffered through some inconsistency, you couldn't say that Bryzgalov's first year was a failure. Then the playoffs started.

People expected the Flyer's first round series against the Pittsburgh Penguins to be a tough affair between two bitter rivals. What they didn't expect was the goal fest that ensued. Bryzgalov allowed 20 goals in the 6 game series, and the only reason Philly advanced was because Marc-Andre Fleury was even worse. It was more of the same against New Jersey in round two, with Bryzgalov allowing 16 more goals in a five game defeat. His final stats for that playoff year: 3.46 goals against average and .887 save percentage. Ugly stuff.

Unfortunately, Bryzgalov wasn't able to rediscover his game over the summer, and is now having one of the worst seasons of his career. He's not the only reason that Philadelphia has missed the playoffs, but he certainly hasn't helped much either.  He's been hounded by the local media and fans relentlessly as the calls for a buyout of his contract grow louder. The trade deadline acquisition of former Calder trophy winner Steve Mason only added fuel to that fire. However those cries seem to have fallen on deaf ears, as Holmgren looks prepared to stick with Bryzgalov for the long run. He was quoted recently as saying, "I think right now with Ilya and Steve, we've got good goaltending moving forward. Any talk of anything other than that I think is out of bounds".

So, what's next in the strange story of Ilya Bryzgalov? It looks like he'll get one more chance to prove his worth in Philadelphia, but should he falter again, it seems as though Holmgren will have little recourse but to buy him out.

That's all for tonight folks, thanks for reading. I'll be back tomorrow with some new posts, your nightly game preview and some more gifs of course! For tonight's gif, you can take a look and decide for yourself whether Bryz was really sleeping or not: