Flyers: Carnival Starts Early This Season
Philadelphia Inquirer Sports Columnist Bob Ford writes about the Eagles, the Phillies, the Sixers and the Flyers.
Flyers: Carnival Starts Early This Season
Bob Ford, Inquirer Sports Columnist
I know I'm still catching up with things after being out of town, and this is old news here, but THE FLYERS SIGNED RAY EMERY??
That is apparently the case. I had to make sure, so I went over to the site of team spokesman Tim Panaccio and, yep, he had it, too. Said the "dust had settled after another sandstorm in Flyerdom," which threw me off a little. I mean, was it dust, or was it sand?
Either way, it was Ray Emery, the new goaltender, by way of Ottawa, by way of Russia, by way of Wackoville. With both Marty Biron and Antero Niittymaki becoming free agents on July 1, I guess the Flyers had to do something -- re-signing Biron would have been my preference -- and, oh yes, they did something.
It's awful to be accused of second-guessing a team, waiting for the outcome to decide if the organization was right or wrong in making a move. So, let's get the first guess out of the way now. This is going to be an utter disaster. Guys don't change at 26. If they miss practices, show up late all the time, get into automobile accidents, become a joke in their own locker rooms in one place, it's going to happen in the next place as well.
This is not Flyers Behavior. Whatever else this team is, the history here is it is as important to be a good teammate as it is to be a good hockey player. For GM Paul Holmgren, a man who tolerates no nonsense, to take this chance is utterly out of character.
And, by the way, it is missing the most vital point about the Flyers. The goaltending wasn't the problem. The problem was that the core of young players on the team who think they can ramp up their intensity and level of play when it is neeeded. Everything's just fine. We're just fine. Don't worry about us. So they blow playoff home-ice advantage on the final day of the season -- at home, to the Rangers -- and then dead-ass through the opening game of the playoffs against the Penguins. Just fine. No problem. The Flyers gave up 18 goals in six games against Pittsburgh. Big deal.
But the goaltending is always the easy answer. Coaches love to make that the answer, because then it's not their fault. It isn't the scheme or the motivation or the execution. It's that lump between the pipes there. Just didn't rise to the occasion. In this case, that's crap. Biron was plenty good enough.
And his replacement is a guy who was late for practice because he was signing autographs at the scene of one of his many fender benders? The dude ate a cockroach off the floor on a bet. Cockroach.
It would be fair to say the players are unconvinced about the signing.
"We all know about Ray. I'm ready to leave that behind and move forward," Kimmo Timonen said.
"We need to give him a chance before we judge him," Danny Briere said.
And then we're going to hate him wicked. At least that's the prediction here. Emery went to Russia to play for a season while he cooled off after his nuclear meltdown in Ottawa. Walked out on the Moscow club in February because he thought they were screwing him on the exchange rate on his salary. Reportedly got into a shoving match with a trainer who was trying to make him wear a hat. Didn't say what kind of hat.
(Since this comes down to Emery and Biron, parenthetically, here's that fight between the two of them, back when Biron was with Buffalo and Emery made it to the game on time.)
OK, I think that's all, at least until the act really gets going and the Wachovia Center fans are booing and throwing things after Emery gives up a soft goal and stomps around, pointing his stick at the defensemen.
This will not end well. And, for God's sake, don't try to make him wear a hat.
Bob you're a hack always have been always will be!!— heats- Marty Biron is OK. Not great.OK. Bob, the goaltending was never going to steal a playoff game for the Flyers. Has there ever been a Flyers goaltender with poorer skills handling the puck than Biron? Not likely. He is an incredibly average goalie. Emery has a pile of dirty laundry a mile high. However, Emery got the Ottawa Senators to a Stanley Cup final. That puts him ahead of Biron. His skills have never been questioned. He may be a whack job. But he is a whack job with potential. Also, his relatively small NHL salary helps the Flyers in any attempt to land a big,brusing defenseman. The Flyers knew what they had in Biron. They also knew it wasn't good enough.— syddan26
- Hey Bob, get over your love-affair with Biron. He wasn't terrible, but he was NOT good enough. He wasn't a young guy thinking he could "ramp up" the intensity level, he was a 30 YR OLD thinking he could ramp up the intensity level! He was just as guilty for this flop, and to give him the cash and the years would be stupid. Emery, though a gamble, is 5 yrs younger, will come cheaper and no one will question his intensity. And this may even give us some cap room to work with to improve the D. I would have preferred a trade for Lehtonen or Giguere but those options were likely too costly in terms of trading talent and the obvious salary demands. Think before you speak/type.— rwright611
- Awful writing.— mikerainey82
- If they get a good, solid defenseman the money saved my not signing Biron may be worth it.— 76er
- Flyers fans obviously know nothing about hockey or about anything else in the game that happens outside of Philly. Ford offers valid thougth-out and researched criticism on this move. You morons.....this is a salary cap move because your team is in the worst salary cap situation out of all 30 teams in the league. If Holmgren had more money available to him, he wouldn't have signed this high-risk punk.— St.Patrick33
- Who is a bigger disaster, Bob or Ray Emery. I don't know. It's close. Both are terrible in what they do!! BOB PLEASE RESIGN AND TAKE IDLE RICH WITH YOU!!!!— uCanTseeMe19
- This is nothing more than a cheap signing. A top notch goalie goes for $5 million per season in the NHL. Mr. Snider/Homer have mismanaged the CAP and now they're selling us on this head case. But, Flyer fans continue to fill the seats.. So, who cares.
that was a terrible article.— jamarder- since your so good at seeing the future, can u lay the powerball winning numbers on us?— meaned
- Bob....please go back to wherever you were.— LF
- Biron WASN"T plenty good enough Bob. Emery is an upgrade over Marty, and at a lower price. This move was caused by Homer's mishandling of the cap. Paying Briere $6.5M a year for 6 more years is insane.— BobbyD
- At first I was like Bob and didn't like the move at all, but after letting it sink in for awhile I think it makes sense. Emery is cheap, only 1.5 million and for one year, whereas Biron would have most definitely gotten a raise from his 3.5 million plus he would want at least 2-3 years. So, why pay more money for the mediocrity we got the last 2 years? I'd rather take my chance on Emery at 1 year than waste the next 3 years with Biron in net. Plus what really swayed me was after next season there are star goaltenders that are free agents like Marty Turco, Evgeni Nabakov, JS Giguere, and Roberto Luongo. I feel that with our young talent we are one star goalie away from a Cup and we will have a legitimate shot at getting one of those guys next year, so I will put up with Emery for one year and hold out hope we do the right thing and get one of those guys next year. I personally would rather have us sign Manny Fernandez for one year, but Emery is cheaper. Now all we have to do is get rid of Lupul's bloated and worth less contract (Jones too but he'll come off the books next year)— robm0202
- Yeah, this is a half-baked post. The Flyers have a need at goaltender because both are free agents, and Bob, you correctly identify other needs on the ice. But IF the Flyers were to sign Biron, they could not address those needs. Due to cap constraints, they could either solve the skater issues with a bargain goalie, or they could stay the course. They chose to try and fix things. Weak post, Bob, weak post.
- Bob, you missed my full analysis which finally educated Philly fans and writers on goaltending. Emery actually gives them a better chance to make it back to the Finals than MOST goalies out there. Fine, he's a headcase. but he's already a done deal with a contract. Brodeur had an affair with his sister-in-law, Hasek was a nutjob, Roy was an angry wife assaulter, and Osgood took a 10 day vacation this year in the middle of the season. From Bernie Parent and the 1973 season, there have been 17 goalies who have won the Cup (36 years). Since the 1990 season with the Pittsburgh Penguins and Barasso, there have been only 12 Cup winning goalies. And out of the 12, there are 6 who are retired -- leaving active only 6: Fleury, Brodeur, Osgood, Khabibulin, Jiggy (Jean-Sebastien Giguere), and Cam Ward. And only Khabibulin was not drafted by his current team. Only 4 out of the last 16 Cup winners had goalies “not drafted” by that team. As for goalies that made it to the finals, who did not win the Cup…going back to the 2000 season with Roy vs. Brodeur to the present, you have: Arturs Irbe went to the Finals with Carolina in 2002-2003 but also retired. Kriprosoft (made finals once), Emery (made finals once), Rolofson (made finals once) and Kevin Weekes (made finals with Carolina, backup on NJ). Fleury made it last year, returned, and won. Hasek made the Finals with Buffalo, then won it with Detroit. History shows it’s rare to get a veteran goalie from another team who hasn’t made the Finals or won a Cup -- like Tom Barasso with the Penguins in 1990 or or Belfour with the Stars. This is the minority. So until the Flyers draft a TOP goalie, this isn't a bad gamble for a GM who totally mismanaged the salary CAP. he has to dump some of the expensive scorers. Don't tell me they need J-Bo to win-Mark Eaton and Hal Gill are holding the Cup right now. they need a top goalie, a better system, solid d-men and Richards & Carter to stop boozing it up and start leading.— MichaelZoe
