Bob will be Boosh's backup; Lappy nominated for award
The Philadelphia Inquirer Blog - Flyers Report: Broad Street Bull
Bob will be Boosh's backup; Lappy nominated for award
Sam Carchidi, Inquirer Staff Writer
For the first time since he struggled in Game 2, Flyers rookie Sergei Bobrovsky will dress for the Eastern Conference quarterfinals against visiting Buffalo. He willl serve as Brian Boucher's backup Tuesday for Game 7.
Peter Laviolette got the goalie decision right this time.
The Flyers are 8-6 (5-3 at home) in Game 7s; the Sabres are 1-5 (0-4 on the road).
The Sabres could be severely shorthanded. Patrick Kaleta, Mike Grier and Jordan Leopold missed the morning skate, while Jochen Hecht and Andrej Sekera took part but are questionable.
Buffalo is already missing two of its better players, injured forwards Jason Pominiville and Tim Connolly.
Kaleta, who reportedly riled Danny Briere and Scott Hartnell with comments about their divorces during Game 6, will miss the game with what is believed to be a hand injury.
"I took him out for counseling," Sabres coach Lindy Ruff kidded today.
Grier and Leopold will be game-time decisions. Griere is expected to be sidelined.
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Even though he didn’t play a game this season because of post-concussion syndrome, Flyers forward Ian Laperriere was named one of the three finalists for the Masterton Award on Tuesday.
Laperriere is THAT respected in hockey circles.
The award, voted upon by the Professional Hockey Writers Association. is given to the player who demonstrates perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey.
The otherr two nominees are former Flyers: Anaheim goalie Ray Emery and Calgary forward Daymond Langkow.
The winner will be announced in Las Vegas on June 22.
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and the goalie-go-round continues...I think Coach Lav borrows Colon Campbell's "Wheel of Justice" to make his goaltending choices. That said, look at where Buffalo is now. Sure, Miller pitched 2 shutouts against us, and he still wound up ranked #10 to Boosh's #4 statistically. That "thorobred" netminder looked pretty bad last night, and in game 6. he was folpping like a flounder much of the series. Let's face it...even the best have their moments, just like Bobs, Boosh and Leighton. 50_buick- I have to say I'm pulling for Lappy to win the Masterton, but all 3 of the players nominated for the award this year are deserving and the only reason to be disappointing is if the player from your team didn't win. Go Lappy and Go Flyers!! baubret
last year it was impossible to go down 3-0 in games and 3-0 in game 7 and still come back and win a series;.....don't even try and tell me something is impossible with this bunch;....with a good dose of amnesia, Boosh is starting the next game and Bob is the backup,....those are about the only real numbers that count,....all the rest is B.S. SyddBarrett
If their defense didn't suck so bad maybe the goal tending wouldn't be such an issue. Also the pressure is on the Flyers and not the Sabres. Look for a bunch of tightly grasped sticks by the Flyers tonight and their playoff run ends tonight. barry1757- Buffalo is toast,...they were done when Ruff opened his pie hole the other nite
SyddBarrett
The Sabres are depleted man power wise. The only way they win tonight is if Miller steals one again which could very well happen but I doubt it. He's too worried about our little mass murderer , Ritchie Manson. debbyt
Put Lappy in net! Reality Speaks
Random thought -pick a fan to start the game in goal and once he hits 3 allowed put Boosh in. capt. photon
Langkow will win the Masterton Trophy. Everybody loves Daymond. He did come back from a serious head injury after missing most of this season. BobbyD
Vic my thoughts exactly. Bob was crucified when the defense should have prevented the other two goals which were not his fault. Leighton is done, period. Bob should be starting with Boosh backing up but I'm actually fine with it this way as well as Boosh, aside for the one game, has played very well. exrec9
To Phillythug--did you even watch Game 2. We were there, and Bob let is ONE bad goal. The way he has been treated is sad.
VicM- I was there too. Which was the bad one again? The one where he ducked out of the way, the one where he failed to cover the post on a near impossible angle, or the one where he slid so far out of position that it was an easy tap in for the opposition. They were ALL terrible. Just like Boosh and Leighton in their starts.
Bob has been pulled in 2 of his last 3 starts, won 1 of his last 11 games, and has a 90% save percentage or better in 1 of his last 5 games (and that was a game with practically no scoring chances against, per Lavy's own assessment). Wonder what you would think of Leighton if he put up those numbers? I'm guessing you wouldn't think him being benched is "sad."
Here's hoping that whoever plays goal, they play better than they have played thus far in the playoffs.
Remember who won the cup last year - we do NOT need a GREAT goalie, they didn't have one -and they won with a fluke goal - this team is too talented, they will step it up tonight, Boosh will stand on his head - Flyers win with a resounding, solid win 4-2....on we go to the next round! poshnspice
Since 1992 the Only team to win the Stanley Cup, who had to a Game 7 in the 1st Round, was the Pittsburgh Penguins. schacher1979
I guarantee you the Leighton thing was a direct order from the GM and Owner. Play this guy, play this guy. So Lavvy did one better, he jeopardized the entire season by playing Leighton and proved his point. Let me coach. Guaranteed. Holmer was a lousy coach..."almost" great GM so far. Masterful trader, needs work on evaluating top talent and cap space. MichaelZoe- Well, if YOU guarantee it then it MUST be accurate. Afterall, how can we question your credibility as a knowledgeable and respected commenter on philly.com?
Bateman
AHLeighton seaonasdad
Put a couple of trash cans in net. Problem solved. Realistic One
Anyone that would rather have Leighton come off the bench rather than Bob needs their head examined. He should have been the backup the entire time as he's got more talent than the other two combined. He may have let a soft one in during his last start. But none were as terrible as the two Boucher let in at the beginning of game 5 or the ones Leighton let in during game 6. However, he is a young kid and doesn't have any playoff experience and that clearly got to him. Having said that, Laviolette did absolutely nothing for his confidence by sitting him. puckurself
don't care who ends up in net tonight...it's all about winning and going on to the next round. geebee
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Having Leighton appear in a playoff game after only seeing action in one NHL game all year was a stretch to begin with. This is the right way to go, if Boosh struggles, Bob will be ready to go, and probably pretty motivated after being exiled to the press box just one game after he held Buffalo to one goal and still lost. drbob1
Look Leighton didn't play well by any stretch of the imagination, but don't act like he was any worse than Bob in game 2 or Boosh in game 5. With that said, I'd rather have Leighton come off the bench than Bob from what I've seen earlier this season....but if it comes to that, it's over anyway. philly thug- Well said. The last two times Leighton came in off the bench (both times in the NHL playoffs) he pitched two regulation shutouts and yielded a whopping 1 goal in 85 minutes played. With that said, he looked God awful in Game 6-- totally out of synch.
I don't think any of this is going to matter though. My guess is Lavy sticks with Boosh regardless of how things turn out. He stuck with Leighton after he coughed up 3 quick goals in Game 7 to the Bruins last year, and we all know how that turned out. - FYI - he only stuck with Leighton in game 7 vs. Boston because Boucher was hurt and Backlund was the backup.
- Agreed. But it doesn't matter, he won sticking with his goalie. He is going to remember that, and i suspect he sticks with Boosh tonight regardless. Bob has played at Backlund level the last few weeks.
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and backlund is the emergency goalie for tonight. azguz
as Chevy Chase says to Randy Quaid in Christmas Vacation.."Do you think it really matters, Eddie?" prominal88
no, that was Sunday :) Flyersfan76
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