What about Bob

AKA: Ring around the Rosie, Are You Pucking Kidding Me, Broad Street Bullshit. Or for the neo-cons out there, Bobrovsky Shrugs

It's April, that means two things; the playoffs are here and the Flyers goaltending is being questioned. Although to be fair, it's questioned year round. The season started with questions of whether or not the inability to land a number one net minder would spell doom for the flyers. Then the reports of Michael Leighton being hurt gave way for the the emergence of Russian prospect, Sergei Bobrovsky. Bob, as he's now known, came out in pre-season, if for nothing else than to get a look at him playing the North American game. He came over from the KHL's equivalent of the Edmonton Oilers and had decent numbers there. Undrafted, the Flyers signed him to a deal. It is my belief that Bob was to start in Adirondack with Johan Backlund, but the injury to Michael Leighton along with Bob's excellent pre-season appearances changed all that.

So the season goes on, and Bob plays well. There were even rumblings of Bob being a Calder Trophy candidate, and with good merit in the first half of the season. One thing that people have often overlooked, and it's now coming to the forefront, is that Bob has never played any more than 35 games in a professional season in Russia. Couple that to the fact that the European game is more deliberate than the faster more physical North American game, and it makes for one tired rookie. Even if Bob has been reluctant to admit it this season, it looks like he might be hitting the wall. Bob has always said the right things after games and put the effort in out on the ice, but after Game 1 he refused to talk to the media. It's entirely understandable as he turned in a solid performance, but couldn't hold on for the win. It's understandable to be upset after a loss, and he is still just a 22 year old rookie, which seems to be forgotten sometimes, and these ups and downs of a season are part of the growing process. It's just unfortunate for Bob that he's starting to struggle at the most crucial time: playoff time.

Given his play down the stretch and into this opening round, the team has to go with better goaltender. Coming off the bench early in game 2, Brian Boucher played well, allowing only 1 goal in 40+ minutes of relief. Brian Boucher has been the consummate professional this year. After being signed as a backup last season to Ray Emery only to lose his job, twice to waiver pick up Michael Leighton, he has never once complained or done anything other than his job. This season is no different. He comes into camp with a chance to win the starting job, only to lose it to a kid. An unknown kid at that. Once again he has embraced his position, and has served a role that he has once been familiar with, albeit on the other side. In his rookie campaign, also with the Flyers, he played ahead of John Vanbiesbrouck, Beezer acted like a mentor to the young Boucher and he is now returning the favor as best he can to Bobrovsky. Quietly, as seems to be his M.O., Boucher has turned in one of his best seasons and leads the team in most goaltending statistical categories , (.916 SV% 2.42 GAA to Bob's .915 2.59 GAA).

So Boucher enters the playoffs and relief, and is now the starter for the Flyers. Stands to reason that Bobrovsky would be the backup, however this is the Philadelphia Flyers. Dressing tonight for the backup is none other than Michael Leighton. Leighton, who started the year on IR, made one appearance (a win 1-0-0 4.00 gaa .889 with the big club this season) before being assigned to Adirondack to get playing time and heal. He was re-called with a few days to go in the regular season, admist speculation as to whether or not he would clear re-entry waivers. Well he did, and he was a healthy scratch, until this evening. Whether or not Leighton will get any action this season remains to be seen, but right now this is Brian Boucher's job to lose.

Have the Flyers soured on Sergei Bobrovsky so quickly? I honestly don't think so, but Boucher has almost a zen-like calming influence on the Flyers right now, and he has been solid all year, so you go with the "hot" goalie, if 2+ periods of hockey makes a goalie hot. To come full circle, what about Bob? In the long run, one has to expect that Bob will be fine. He is still a young kid who can barely speak the language, and still has a lot to learn about the the nuances of the game, as well as its physicality. This could actually be good for him in terms of his development. No one can deny the contributions that Bob has made to this team. He helped this team jump out to a dominating division and conference lead earlier in the year. The play of the entire team was the reason for the Flyers slipping to the 2nd seed in the East, and cannot be placed on one player. If there are to be any criticisms to be made about Bob's performance at all this season, it is his tendency to go down early. "Shoot high" is the mantra when playing against the Flyers, and with good reason. What I have noticed is that Bob actually makes himself smaller at times when making the save. The one thing you hear from every coach, analysts and other so called "experts" (aka know it all motherpuckers with blogs) is that goalies need to make themselves larger, take away the open space. Bob's athleticism is second to none, and he is still young and goalies are slower to develop than skaters. Sam Carchidi has commented that Bob needs to bulk up a bit to be tougher covering the puck, and I would have to agree. Look to Bob to come into camp this summer hungrier and with a possible chip on his shoulder. Despite the talented goaltenders in the organization (Joacim Eriksson and Nic Riopel especially), the future of the Flyers will be in the hands of Sergei Bobrovsky. In a town that has notoriously looked for the next one in net, something they haven't had since Hextall's first go round in Philadelphia, Bob has given Philly phaithful plenty to be hopeful about. He's young, athletic and hungry. Look for #35 between the pipes for a long time. In the meantime we all have to remember, he's still a kid.