The search for Ron Hextall's successor continues.
Hextall last played for the Flyers in the 1998-99 season. Here are some of the names that have stood between the pipes since then: Cechmanek, Esche, Hackett, Niittymaki, Biron, Boucher, Emery, Bobrovsky.
Two years ago the Flyers once again tried to solve the riddle of their goaltending curse by going out and signing Ilya Bryzgalov.
Yesterday they told him to go away, and offered him a nice little parting gift - $23 million left on his nine-year deal.
Just once I'd like someone to offer me that kind of money NOT to go to work. Bryzgalov now becomes a free agent.
For the two wildly entertaining, if not terribly successful years he spent in Philadelphia, the Bryz will have earned a little more than $39 million.
Paul Holmgren might want to consider that the next time he mulls the idea of offering anybody a nine-year deal.
Bryzgalov was not a bad goaltender, he just wasn't the game-changer the Flyers expected, and for whom they have now been seeking for more than a decade. He went 52-33-10 with a 2.61 goals against average and .905 save percentage in 99 regular season games with the orange and black. Last year, his numbers sagged in the playoffs, a 3.46 goals against and .887 save percentage. Of course, the Flyers didn't have that problem this year, they watched the Stanley Cup playoffs on TV after failing to make the post-season.
There were a lot of familiar names, former Flyers who did make the playoffs, including several whose names will now be etched on the Stanley Cup for their work with the Chicago Blackhawks.
But there is another name that likely will remain stuck in the craw of the Flyers' rabid fans. I already mentioned it here once.
That would be Sergei Bobrovsky. He manned the pipes for the Flyers for parts of the 2010-11 and 2011-12 seasons, serving as the backup for Bryzgalov that last year. After that he was dealt to the Columbus Blue Jackets. This year he won the Vezina Trophy as the top goaltender in the NHL.
In the meantime, Holmgren will continue the great goalie hunt. Steve Mason looks like the leader in the clubhouse.
Where have you gone, Ron Hextall?
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