Why Sergei Bobrovsky should start in Adirondack, no matter what

I completely agree. People are just riding the emotion after seeing him play in the preseason. He has been good but he definitely needs to work on his skills in Upstate NY. The only way the Flyers should even consider bringing him to Philly this year is if he completely COMPLETELY lights up the AHL and Leights, Boosh/Backlund both get hurt and there are no UFA goalies worth signing. That’s the only way its acceptable to me.

I’m sure a season with the Phantoms would do wonders for Bob, but how bad could a season in the NHL be? I mean, he’ll be playing behind 3 pretty solid defensive pairings, so that should limit the number of pucks he sees, right?

Don’t worry about the backlash from the fans, the kid doesn’t know one bit of English, he won’t be reading the papers or BSH anytime soon this season.

Thanks for being the voice of reason, Travis.

If Bobrovsky falters, which he inevitably will at some point during his first season in North America, the boo birds will quickly come out if he’s in Philadelphia. “Yet another goalie that can’t handle it, that’s just a tease,” they’ll say. That likely won’t be the truth, but the backlash will almost certainly effect the young Russian mentally.

We may have a slightly lower reputation for goalie backlash than Montreal, but the gap really isn’t all that wide. For reference, see the expectations heaped on Boucher at the start of the 2000 season and how quickly we turned on him, or how much we blame we heaped on Cechmanek when he had horrible outings, or how many of our “goalie of the future” prospects have self destructed.

We all gotta remember though, that this is the same team that had no problem playing Luca Sbisa as an 18 yr old, when everyone was saying that they were just building up his confidence in camp, and then he went on and started half the season with us. Most of us all thought JVR, not matter what he did, was gonna start the season in the AHL. He also started and played a full season last year. Will it be better if he played in the AHL? Yes, but management continues to show they have no problem playing a guy if he shows during preseason that he can play. The injury of Leighton and Bob playing a fulll game yesterday has showed that keeping Bob on the big team is a big option.

1- Yes, Mesz needs to play better. 2 – We seem to be in a hurry to condemn a very good dman. Waiving him isn’t an option, nor is it deserved after some drills and scrimmages.

On the rookie goalie side – Chicago did ok with a rookie coming from a Euro league. Det looked pretty solid with Howard. Boston seemed comfortable replacing a Vezina winner with another euro rook. This is what training camp is for – competition. If Bobrovsky earns a spot with his play, he should play. If he doesn’t, the foliage in Adirondack is lovely now. Same with Leighton or Boucher.

I’m in complete agreement, though i do have one question:

How often does Reese work with the Phantoms goalies, and/or does the Phantoms organization have it’s own goalie coach with a good rep?

I was at the game last night.
(Minnesota native, Flyers fan forever)
I’m joining in here for the first time, after lurking all last season when I discovered this wonderful community.
I thought Bobrovsky look shaky at the start, but he seemed to gain more confidence as the game went on. He never had my total confidence, however. That has to be earned. Boosh was backing up, I wish he’d played. I see the guys so rarely in person it would have been a treat to have him between the pipes. I really wanted to yell “Booo-sh” in person too, not just at the TV! Last Feb. when they were here, Emery had just gotten hurt and Leights was in net. We lost.

Does anyone there in Philly know why Carcillo got tossed out of the game in the 2nd? He got a 2 min penalty called on him. then he seemed to be upset about something which earned him a 10 min misconduct, then he really got pissed which got him tossed out on a game misconduct. It actually was cool to see him do his thing in person too, as I’ve seen so many times on TV. There was nothing in the press here to explain it.
Two guys who impressed me were Walker, who had a fight and looked good doing it, and Gustafson who played regular shifts on D and seemed like he was out for most of the OT.
Some jerk behind me was giving me grief over my #16 retro Bobby Clarke jersey as we went into overtime. Geez, I’m a 50 year old female! Ok, I was kinda loud but sheesh, I’m just cheering for my team, who rarely make it here. But hey, I’m a Flyers fan, i can take it!
He said, “Clarke, is he still alive?” Then he goes “what were they called back then?” to which I replied “Stanley Cup Champions.” He backed off.
I’m so glad I found this community with passions that run as high as mine for this team, this franchise. My dream vacation is to get to Philly in the winter someday and take in a homestand surrounded by a sea of orange all cheering for the same team I am!
Let’s Go Flyers!

i’m all for having bob stay in the ahl for the year i think it will be very beneficial for him. the question i have is what happens if he does have a break out season with them, is it then reasonable to bring him up to the flyers? will one year reguardless of how he does be enough to make that leap to push leights, boosh, and backs?

I just wanted to throw out one more bit of reasoning for Bob to stay in the AHL this year… He’s the only one of the 4 that doesn’t have to clear waivers. So if somebody else is hurt, he can come and go as he pleases…. But the other three? If they’re in the AHL, I hope they don’t get called up; while it’s a doomsday scenario, any of the three could be attractive at half price.

What’s the story with Leights and Backlund? Because if they are still injured come seasons start there might not be any choice other than keeping Bob up

I would keep Bob up only if they need to buy time for Leighton / Backlund. If it looks like one of them will be back sooner than later – like by the end of October, TOPS – then I’m fine with Bob being here until then. Aside from that I agree that he needs to be on the Phantoms this year.

If I’m the Flyers, under no circumstances would I consider going out and getting someone else unless both Leighton AND Backlund are going to be out for several months. I surely hope the Flyers wouldn’t give Bob the Kolb treatment – throw money at him, tell him he’s the goalie of the future, then immediately replace him with someone not already on the team (like Theodore). I know that Kolb’s situation didn’t play out exactly like that, but you get my meaning. I’d like to think that the organization would have the requisite class and enough confidence in Bob to let him fill in for a couple of games in October, should it come to that. And if it does come down to that, I’d be fine with it.

I’ll withhold my final judgment until we get results from Leighton and see how Backlund is progressing.

As much as I’m excited about Bob, his progress this week, and his insane potential, you’re right. We have to wait.

Ignoring the cap issues (just like Homer, zing!), the length of the schedule and different playing styles (ie traffic in front of the net) alone are good enough reasons to give him a season in the AHL to acclimate.

Your suggestion of finding a cheap vet to fill in for an injured Leighton (if Backlund isn’t healthy enough to take the job) is a good one. I hadn’t thought of that, even though it seems fairly obvious now.

:)