Getting Down To Bryzness

Ilya Bryzgalov is hotter than the sun. 249:43 of shutout hockey (breaking the Flyers all-time record). Four shutouts int the past six games. This is the goalie the Flyers were expecting when they committed $51 million to him. But it was not always like this.


When the Flyers signed Bryzgalov over the summer, they were hoping this would be the stalwart in net they had desperately searched for. The had ridden the goalie carousel for years, and it was about time they get off. Bryzgalov won everyone over with his "the universe ees so humanges big" philosophy, as well as his knowledge of rare tigers. But when his play dipped, the outrageous behavior was not fun anymore. 


Soft goals were becoming more frequent, so much so that Bryzgalov was benched in favor of Bobrovsky for the Winter Classic. Even more embarrassing than his play, was his attitude. Quotes like "I will try to find peace in my soul to play in this city.", and twitpic's of his thermos were driving fans insane. 


With the trade deadline approaching quickly, there was talk of bringing in a 3rd goalie. When was the last time you saw a three goalie rotation? That would be...never. People were talking and tweeting like Bryzgalov was already a thing of the past.


But the trading deadline came and went, and Bryzgalov was still the starting goalie for the Philadelphia Flyers. And that was when Bryzgalov realized he needed to turn it around, and fast. 


So what did he do? He finally shut up, and went to work. No more tweeting, no more memorable quotes in the morning paper. He put his head down, and went to work.


His 2.99 GAA average has dropped down to 2.52, and he has become a brick wall between the pipes. No more lack of dedication, no more soft goals, but instead pure determination. The determination to succeed in a city where people said he could not.


And when Bryzgalov broke the Flyers all-time record for a shutout streak, Flyers fans were finally relieved. Ilya Bryzgalov had finally arrived, and he is ready to do some humanges big things with his new team.