Flyers goaltending

The goalie carousel will always be a hot topic in Philadelphia.  I have never been able to understand Beezer over Cujo or the acquisition of Sean Burke…twice! 

I never understood why any team poised to make a run at the cup would intentionally choose a patch-work solution in the midst of a run.  This notion came from a GM (Bob Clarke) who played along side the greatest goalie in Flyers history (Bernie Parent) and witnessed first-hand how a great goaltender could steal a Stanley Cup. 

I will not blame Paul Holmgren for the mistakes of Bob Clarke.  Homer has made the most of the situation since acting as general manager.  Proven number one goalies are not dangled around as often in today’s game, as witnessed with the Minnesota Wild locking up Niklas Backstrom to a four-year extension at the season’s end.

Wisely, Holmgren only signed Biron to a two-year deal during his interim GM stage.  Holmgren had to lock Biron up so he could get other free agents interested in playing in Philly again.  Intelligently, he has only signed Ray Emery, aka Sugar Ray, to a one-year deal.  Emery could end up returning to the form that brought the Senators to the Stanley Cup a couple of years ago.  Ray Emery could also end up being the same goalie that was shipped to Russia to play in the newly formed Russian league. 

Either way, Paul Holmgren is putting himself in a normal position in Flyer-land only this time, he may have an opportunity to right the ship.  If Ray Emery turns out to be a great goaltender and great teammate, Holmgren should sign him to a long term deal.  If Sugar Ray turns out to be Terrell Owens in goalie pads, you ship him back to Russia and look at the free agent pool for 2010-11. 

For your own amusement, here are the top goalies that are scheduled to be free agents in 2010-11 and as you can see, the list is stacked with marquee goalies.

(All stats based on 2009 season)

Roberto Luongo – 31 yrs old.  Games played – 54, Wins – 33 (9^th best), Goals against average – 2.34 (5^th best), Save percentage – .920 (5^th best), Shutouts – 9 (2^nd best)

Evgeni Nabokov – 34 yrs old.  GP – 62 (8^th), W – 41 (2^nd), GAA – 2.44, Sv% – .910, SO – 7 (4^th)

Marty Turco – 34 yrs old.  GP – 74 (2^nd), W – 33 (9^th), GAA – 2.81, Sv% – .898, SO – 3

Chris Mason – 34 yrs old.  GP – 57, W – 27, GAA – 2.41 (9^th), Sv% – .916 (11^th), SO – 6 (6^th)

Jonas Hiller – 28 yrs old.  GP – 46, W – 23, GAA – 2.39 (7^th), Sv% – .919 (6^th), SO – 4

Cam Ward – 26 yrs old (Restricted FA) – GP – 68 (5^th), W – 39 (3^rd), GAA – 2.44, Sv% – .916 (11^th), SO – 6 (6^th)

Notables:   Vesa Toskala, Carey Price, Dan Ellis, Jaroslav Halak, Jonathan Quick