Contrary to what Paul Holmgren had told the media for months, the Philadelphia Flyers GM released a statement Tuesday saying his team will buyout the remainder of goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov's contract after two seasons with the club.
This is the second and final compliance buyout Holmgren will use (the other being Danny Briere,) which
means the Flyers will not be charged against the salary cap for the remainder of his contract, unlike a regular buyout would.
Holmgren called the move "a difficult business decision" in the release on the Flyers' website, and no wonder. This move is the biggest contract buyout in NHL history according to the great CapGeek.com, and guarantees that Philly will pay Bryz a little over $1.6 million a year for the next 14 years.
Bryzgalov, usually a very outspoken person despite an obvious language barrier, didn't have much to say about the team's decision, telling three Philadelphia beat writers on speaker phone, "Congratulations, you guys win," before hanging up and refusing to talk to them any further.
Oh, Bryz.
Bryzgalov will be an unrestricted free agent on July 5th now, making this summer's offseason much more interesting. Before we take a look into what the future holds for Mr. Universe, let's take a long, well-deserved look back on all the magical moments Bryzgalov gave us during his short tenure as the starting goalie in Philadelphia.
HBO 24/7
The world, nay, the universe was first thrust into the inner machinations of Ilya Bryzgalov's magnificent mind on the first episode of HBO's 24/7 Rangers/Flyers: The Road to the NHL Winter Classic, when he went on a brilliantly bizarre dissertation about the his recent fascination with the nature of outer space.
The quotes "so humangous big," "so small tiny," (gotta love the double adjective describing the same thing,) and, "Be heppy," took off in hockey culture as Bryzgalov became the runaway star of HBO's all-access series.
Bryzgalov was far from done, offering his thoughts on his dog in the following episode. After teammate Jaromir Jagr tries to avoid him at dinner, his rant begins at about 1:09. Just look how weirded out Sergei Bobrovsky is (1:53). It's priceless.
This is the second and final compliance buyout Holmgren will use (the other being Danny Briere,) which
means the Flyers will not be charged against the salary cap for the remainder of his contract, unlike a regular buyout would.
 |
| (Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) |
Bryzgalov, usually a very outspoken person despite an obvious language barrier, didn't have much to say about the team's decision, telling three Philadelphia beat writers on speaker phone, "Congratulations, you guys win," before hanging up and refusing to talk to them any further.
Oh, Bryz.
Bryzgalov will be an unrestricted free agent on July 5th now, making this summer's offseason much more interesting. Before we take a look into what the future holds for Mr. Universe, let's take a long, well-deserved look back on all the magical moments Bryzgalov gave us during his short tenure as the starting goalie in Philadelphia.
HBO 24/7
The world, nay, the universe was first thrust into the inner machinations of Ilya Bryzgalov's magnificent mind on the first episode of HBO's 24/7 Rangers/Flyers: The Road to the NHL Winter Classic, when he went on a brilliantly bizarre dissertation about the his recent fascination with the nature of outer space.
The quotes "so humangous big," "so small tiny," (gotta love the double adjective describing the same thing,) and, "Be heppy," took off in hockey culture as Bryzgalov became the runaway star of HBO's all-access series.
Bryzgalov was far from done, offering his thoughts on his dog in the following episode. After teammate Jaromir Jagr tries to avoid him at dinner, his rant begins at about 1:09. Just look how weirded out Sergei Bobrovsky is (1:53). It's priceless.
"LOST IN THE WOODS"
The Hart of Hockey did a post on this incident the day after it occurred, mostly because Bryzgalov's comments were so honest it led to the team placing a gag-order on him for most of the regular season.
Following a chaotic 9-8 loss to the Winnipeg Jets, Bryz lambasted his recent performance with tons of beat writers' recorders in front of him. Rarely do you ever see an athlete this candid about their poor play, which was a breath of fresh air. At the same time, though, you couldn't help but feel bad for the guy with how hard he coming down on himself. But then you realized what he was saying was hilarious, so stopped feeling bad.
There's an all-you-can-eat buffet of delectable sound bytes in here, but "I have zero confidence in myself right now," "I am the reason we are losing games," and, my personal favorite, "I am lost in the woods" stick out the most.
Bryz is a little quiet in this video, so you may have to crank up your volume to catch all the magic.
BEARS
Just before the 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs, Bryzgalov was asked by a media member about the threatening I'm only afraid of bear in the forest." Penguins fans took this confessions and ran with it, as several fans showed up to the first round series between the two clubs dressed in giant bear costumes. With more "bears" in the audience than one is used to seeing at a hockey game, it was quite a sight to behold.nature of the loaded Pittsburgh Penguins, to which Bryz offered up the gem, "
Turns out, Bryz had a childhood friend in Russia mauled by a bear and killed, thus the case of ursaphobia. However, he later said he was amused by the Pittsburgh fans' creativity, so no harm done. He also tweeted this .GIF following the Flyers Game 2 win with all those bears in attendance. Classic Bryz.
SPACE DANGER & DINOSAURS
Remember that giant meteor shower that had some big rocks from outer space land in Russia this year? It was, like, a really big deal for a day, or something. Oh well, even if you don't remember, all you need to know is that someone at a radio station was smart enough to ask Mr. Universe about his thoughts on the subject, and he did not disappoint.
Click here for the full interview. He has some solid quotes, as usual, but the real show starts at the 10-minute mark.
"We cannot avoid the space danger," Bryzgalov said, before giving a hauntingly beautiful Carpe Diem speech, telling us to enjoy every day on Earth and to enjoy them with out families and loved one. "We cannot avoid the space danger" sounds like a line from a terrible, black and white, sci-fi flick from the 1950s, but here we are hearing it from Ilya Bryzgalov in 2013.
THE PHILADELPHIA MEDIA
Bryzgalov was very forthcoming with his frustration with the Philadelphia media when the team was losing games and the newspapers seemed to be piling on him even though he was facing 40+ shots a game and playing behind a defense with more holes than a tennis racket, but late in the 2013 season, he absolutely went off on the tabloid writers posing as sports media.
A report came out that Bryzgalov fell asleep during a team meeting before a game, which led to newly acquired back-up Steve Mason starting in that night's must-win match-up. Despite all signs pointing to the story being false, just about every media outlet in Philly picked-up the story and ran with it, much to the chagrin of the Flyers' staring netminder.
Good for Bryz. Never do you see a player stand up to the media like that. Usually if they do, they come across as whiny, or unable to take criticism, but Bryz is just peeved by the way the Philadelphia media handled rumors as fact. You can sense the frustration in his voice and see it in his eyes, but his frail grasp on the English language keeps him from really blowing up, and so instead he spews out amazingly comical insults like, "You got to prove your sources" or "You became a not professional journalists".
I'm not making fun of him, English is hard, and I don't think I'd fair very well in front of microphones in Russia, but that wouldn't make it any less funny.
He was far from done though, bashing the media again as the Flyers' postseason-less season came to an end. I doubt his comments are going to change the way the Philadelphia media conducts their business, but it doesn't make what he said any less true.
Boom, roasted.
... WHAT'S NEXT?
His crazy antics and growing distaste for Philly reporters may have played a bigger role in his departure than his poor stats did, but now one has to wonder, what's going to be the next chapter in the inevitable Ilya Bryzgalov autobiography that will hit bookshelves in a few years?
Devan Dubnyk was given his opportunity to step up and prove that he could be a No. 1 goalie in Edmonton this past season, and it did not impress. The Oilers' new front office appears to be ready to move on with Duby in a back-up role, but don't have many realistic options to get someone new outside of a big trade. That is, they didn't have many options until the Bryzgalov news broke. There's a great chance they'll float an enticing offer Bryzgalov's way come July 5th, the first day of free agency. The question then becomes whether or not Bryz will want to move to a smaller market amidst the frozen tundra of the Great White North, a geographic location he hasn't been too fond of.
On that note, it may be worth mentioning that the other team in the province of Alberta, the Calgary Flames, is likely to lose their long-time starter, Miikka Kiprusoff, to retirement, leaving a gaping hole in net in Cow Town. Once again, would Bryzgalov really want to go there? He may be left with no choice, but he'll likely have other options, even in a city he's already familiar with.
One of Bryzgalov's "buddies" from Philadelphia, Randy Miller of the Courier-Post, pointed out in a Twitter tirade that Bryz loves his former coach in Phoenix, Dave Tippett. Well, Tippett just re-upped in the desert, and Bryz was nominated for the Vezina Trophy as the league's best goaltender once upon a time under the guidance of Tippett and goalie coach extraordinaire Sean Burke. Phoenix may not have nearly as much pressure to re-sign their starter from last year, Mike Smith (another Sean Burke success story,) now that they know Bryzgalov is available.
Throw the New York Islanders into the mix, and you can bet those clubs will consider throwing starting goalie money at him. Other teams will surely consider him in a back-up role. The Boston Bruins' back-up from 2013, Anton Khudobin, is a UFA this summer, and while Khudobin shows promise, Bryzgalov would likely be a massive upgrade in that position, especially playing behind a much more defensively responsible team. It also wouldn't be crazy to see the Colorado Avalanche chase him. They had a Russian starting in net for them last year, Semyon Varlamov, and he would likely benefit from both the companionship of a fellow countryman and healthy competition for the starting job. The Avs wouldn't have a problem moving current back-up J.S. Giguere to another team looking for goaltending depth.
Never to be ruled out, the KHL could always be an option, too. No doubt he'd get paid big bucks to play back home.
A lot people knew the Bryzgalov contract would become a bad one as he got older and older, but no one could have imagine it looking this terrible two seasons in to its original nine-year term. Philadelphia was over the salary cap and had hard decision to make, and they felt the biggest buyout in league history puts their team in a better position to win in the future. Knowing he's escaping an irrationally critical media market and will still make upwards of $1.6 million a year for well over a decade has to cushion the blow of bad news, but that still doesn't mean it's easy being Bryzy.
