Sam Donnellon: Roenick says Bryzgalov's in a tough spot

JEREMY ROENICK once kissed a teammate.

During a game.

That doesn't mean he understands goaltenders completely. But it probably explains why he felt empowered to seek out Ilya Bryzgalov during the Winter Classic and offer words of encouragement.

"It's a very tough position," Roenick was saying over the phone yesterday. "And when you get a contract like he got in a city like Philadelphia, where the expectations are immense, it's very easy to feel the pressure."

What is hard to figure out is if that is what's going on here. Yeah, Bryzgalov owns that weighty 9-year, $51 million contract. But his personality really has not changed much, if at all, from his days in Phoenix, or for that matter, Anaheim.

As he has said on numerous occasions, he is incapable of telling a lie when asked a question, and seems genuinely perplexed about the secretive nature that defines professional sports in North America, and particularly the Flyers. His recent short answers and lack of availability are more an effort by the Flyers to hone his focus than it is his. Indeed, if the team, and not the NHL, made the rules, Bryz would be off limits to reporters for anything other than postgame comment.

Is any of this relevant to stopping the puck? The history of free-agent goalies receiving big deals is inconclusive. Curtis Joseph struggled at first after signing a 3-year, $24 million deal with Detroit, and eventually was dealt. Eddie Belfour struggled when he was traded from the Blackhawks to the Sharks, but thrived a year later after signing as a free agent in Dallas. Dominik Hasek won a Stanley Cup after moving over from Buffalo to Detroit.

"I definitely think that Bryz is an odd bird," Roenick said. "Lots of goaltenders I've played with are odd birds. It doesn't make him different."

When you're done tilting your head to the side, I'll explain what JR means by that. In the world of goaltenders, particularly brand-name goaltenders, Bryz is the norm, not the exception. Yeah, so he talks about tigers in China and his place in the universe. So? Patrick Roy used to talk to his goal posts. Cujo used to smile when he made a save. To this day, Bobby Clarke fondly describes Bernie Parent, still the best goalie I ever watched, as "a little goofy."

And then there are Belfour and Hasek, two of the flakier names ever etched onto a Stanley Cup.

Roenick was a teammate of both.

At the same time.

Might explain why he later kissed Mark Recchi.

Hasek was Belfour's backup when Roenick broke in with Chicago.

"I don't know if Bryz goes into his own little world and just hangs out there, but sometimes goaltenders need to just do that," Roenick said. "Belfour would do that on game days. He'd go into his own little world, a world in which he just got angry. So that competitive edge would just come out in him. He didn't have that kind of wishy-washy personality. He had a grit on his face that you weren't going to beat him. Eddie Belfour would make saves and look at you like, '[Bleep] you.' "

And Hasek?

"When Dominik first came over from the Czech Republic, he would just drop the stick in practice and tell you to shoot harder and faster," JR said. "He'd tell you to shoot at his head so he could practice making saves with his head.

"He was just nuts."

Bryzgalov is no Belfour, a media mummy for most of his career. He's not Hasek either, who rarely owned up to his own slumps and shortcomings. Bryz might be too hard on himself, really - a trait that Marty Brodeur has, a trait that in the long run might not be all bad.

"Actually my hat's off to him for calling himself out," said Roenick. "I respect him for calling himself out. For telling the media that he's not been good. He's not hiding behind anything. He might be a little too honest. But hopefully people can appreciate that."

They will if he stops more pucks. Which was the gist of Roenick's message at the Winter Classic that day. Let the universe run itself for the time being, leave the tigers to themselves, too. "Just worry about stopping the puck," Roenick said he told Bryz at the Classic, evoking thanks and a smile of appreciation.

"He's one of the better goaltenders I've played against in my career and a very difficult guy to score against when he's on," Roenick said. "I told him that. I told him he has all the tools and all the talent, and that you don't get the contract that you got for being a schlep. So stay with it. Stay positive. If this team is going to win a Stanley Cup it's going to be because of you, the way it normally is. I think Claude Giroux, at the halfway point, is the MVP of the league. But you win and lose Cups because of your goaltender."

Maybe Bryz needed to be told that. But as JR knows all too well, we sure don't.