Fact or Fiction: Are the Flyers a Goalie Graveyard: Part Two

Emery would leave in the offseason, and Leighton would be returned to the Phantoms the following season, leaving Brian Boucher the presumptive starter. However, young Russian netminder Sergei Bobrovsky would play well in his rookie campaign leading to him performing starter duties and moving Boucher to the backup position.

The Flyers made lots of changes in the following offseason, but the most notable was the acquisition of noted quote machine Ilya Bryzgalov from the Anaheim Ducks who was to be named starter with Bobrovsky backing up. Despite looking good his previous year, Bobrovsky was unhappy in the backup role, and the Flyers were unwilling to commit, having signed Bryzgalov to a blockbuster deal. Bobrovsky would be traded for a pittance before going on to win two Vezina’s in Columbus.

Bryzgalov as a starter was bad, and he struggled heavily in his first year, and worse in the lockout shortened following season, while the 24 year old newly acquired Steve Mason looked good in his limited time. So, a mere two years after signing his blockbuster deal, a jaded Bryzgalov was bought out, and Mason was named starter, with Ray Emery being brought back to serve as his backup.

Mason thrived as the starter for the next few years, though Emery and the team as a whole would still struggle. This is also the time my rules come back to bite me as they force me to talk about Rob Zepp, a man who even the most well versed Flyers fans have likely never heard of. Zepp played exactly 10 career NHL games, all of them with the Flyers at the age of 33. I entertained not including him here at all, but in a way, the need for them to scrape the bottom of the barrel for 10 games is emblematic of their struggles in the 21st century.

Eventually Emery would retire, and the Flyers would sign Michal Neuvirth to serve as backup to Mason. Neuvirth would play well, almost too well, as his play encouraged the team to adopt a tandem between the two as opposed to a starter-backup formation. This was bad for Mason who not only preferred to be the team’s starter, it was cited as the main reason he would go on to leave the team. He also played worse in the tandem, which was a problem, as Neuvirth’s play began to decline as well. Anthony Stolarz also got his first taste of the NHL, playing well in his seven games as the team failed to make the postseason.

Mason left that offseason, and Brian Elliott was brought in to replace him, expecting to be in a tandem with Michal Neuvirth. However injuries had more than done their damage to Neuvirth who missed significant time, prompting Alex Lyon to serve as backup before the Flyers acquired Petr Mrazek. None of the four goalies were particularly spectacular, but an electric prospect by the name of Carter Hart was waiting in the wings for his chance.

For the 2018-19 season I’m going to break all of my rules and talk about a group I like to refer to as the Hateful 8. The Flyers broke the record for most goalies to start a game in a single season, and it was truly a mess. As usual, Neuvirth was injured practically the whole season, prompting Elliott to start over a rotating cast of waiver acquisitions in the form of Mike McKenna and Cal Pickard.

Naturally, neither of them played particularly well, but the Flyers homegrown solutions didn’t help much either. Anthony Stolarz would be injured and miss the remainder of the season, and Alex Lyon struggled mightily when given the opportunity. GM Ron Hextall would be fired for the disaster between the pipes, and the phenom Carter Hart was called up and thrown directly into the fire after struggling with the Phantoms.

And wow, he took off. Hart came in on fire, setting Flyers rookie goaltending records as he went, emerging as a clear starter for the team despite some questioning if the then 20 year old goalie was ready. Stolarz would be swapped for Cam Talbot who would complete the Hateful 8, but Flyers fans didn’t care, it was Hart’s time to shine.

And the following year saw even more progress as Hart and Elliott carried the Flyers within one game of the conference finals in the bubble, leaving most to move the Flyers goaltending woes into history books. Still, this past season may have some fans pumping the breaks on the train, as Hart and Elliott both struggled, with Hart battling injuries throughout the year. If his first two years are anything to go by though, the Flyers may have a true elite goaltender on their hands.

So now that we’re up to the modern day it’s time to answer the question once and for all. Are the Flyers a goalie graveyard? Historically I’m not sure I’d be ok saying that. Prior to the year 2000, the Flyers almost always had an elite goaltender between the pipes. But after the turn of the century all consistency went out the window.

Young talent would underperform. Old vets would crumble to pieces. Injuries prevented some goalies from ever reaching their ceiling, and a massive whiff in trading Bobrovsky certainly leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

I’m hopeful Carter Hart can change the narrative around the Flyers, because these past 20 years have been a true blue disaster for the Flyers in net, and the team hasn’t hoisted any cups in part because of that. So yes, these past 20 years the Flyers have been a goalie graveyard. But if the Wells Fargo Center is full of ghosts, Carter Hart is the best chance for a Ghostbuster we’ve seen in a long time.