This started off as a Philly pride piece. I was going to talk about how proud I am of the Philadelphia Flyers and their season. I planned on dissecting how the play of Danny Briere and Jeff Carter was amazing and that Mike Richards’ ability to not only coexist, but even bond, with Chris Pronger shows that he’ll continue to be a great captain for the foreseeable future. My plan was to even go on a limb and say that I wasn’t upset about us losing, that just getting there was enough. After waiting over 24 hours this article should still largely echo those sentiments. That being said, never in my entire life have I wished so hard for someone to close their legs.
No seriously, Michael Leighton, why will you not just shut your legs? I feel like I’m a dad on “16 and Pregnant” right before Prom. I’ll grant you that some of the saves you made were ridiculous. Yes, we were out shot in several circumstances and poor play on defense and power play did not help, but hasn’t anyone ever mentioned to you that your butterfly leaves a gaping five hole? If only every girl I’ve ever dated had the same issue (the leg closing one, not the poor butterfly mechanics).
The most frustrating part is that you were a Chicago Blackhawk. Patrick Sharp took every opportunity to make us regret letting him go. Even Patrick Kane played like he had some pent up rage over how we treated his fellow No. 88, Eric Lindros, (I’m not sure of anything the city of Philadelphia ever did to Dale Earnhardt Jr.). You however played with no sense of urgency. While Antti Noemi was over there rolling around on the ground stopping everything that came at him high, which was where he was supposed to be weak, you consistently could not stop low shots flying 80 mph at your crotch.
I’m not dropping this entire thing on your shoulders and I don’t agree with you getting pulled twice in favor of Brian Boucher when the game was already lost. That type of move doesn’t show any faith, and paints you as fragile. They definitely did not do you any favors. As I’ve mentioned I’m not psyched about our power play, and Pronger did take penalties at the most inopportune times but these are issues that can be fixed. A play off goalie is the bedrock of a team. While they may not win the most Conn Smythe trophies, they’re the player you invariably remember.
Years from now we won’t remember all the goals they scored; we’ll remember all the ones we didn’t. The worst part is, I don’t have an obvious answer. Last year I was calling for Jose Theodore from the Washington Capitals but with two years and two chokes I’m not sure he’s the answer. He’s more of an answer to the platoon of existing goalies we have. It’s because of you and because of Jeremy Roenick’s commentary, “I made it once, everyone and lost. Everyone said not to worry about it, that we’d get back next year, we never did” that I can’t drum up a lot of enthusiasm about next year.
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