One of the many lessons that the Philadelphia Flyers can learn from this year's Stanley Cup Finals is that you don't necessairly need an elite goalie to win the Cup. You can make it if you have adequate goalies with a rock solid defense right in front. Limiting the amount of shots you'd face a night helps. Of course, it also helps if your offense can score as well.
This past season, the Flyers ended their playoff drought. A big part of that was the surprising play of Dan Vladar. He was better than advertised and powered Philadelphia throughout the playoffs. It's also a big reason that the Flyers are looking to extend him soon.
However, the playoff drought almost ended two seasons ago when John Tortorella was here. It was his second season, the Flyers, much like this season, were playing above expectations. Carter Hart got hurt and then got suspended. It left the Flyers with the goaltending quartet of Samuel Ersson, Calvin Petersen, Felix Sandstrom, and Ivan Fedotov.
Petersen, who had come to Philly via the Ivan Provorov trade, had shown why LA had given up on him. Once considered an up and coming goaltender, he began to regress. A change of scenery trade to Philly did not help as he posted a 2-2-0 record with a GAA of 3.90 and a save percentage of .864. He's out. Sandstrom, a former top prospect, was hurt during training camp. When he came back, he was just as effective as Petersen (1-2-0, 3.87, .823). Ivan Fedotov, making his debut after a heroic escape from Russia was more of the same (0-1-1, 4.95, .811).
The only light the Flyers had in net that year was Ersson. When he played, it was as if you knew the Flyers had a chance to win. The team itself seemed to play better, more confident with him in net. Then it all fell apart.
Burning Ersson Out
In the last 20 games of the 2023-24 season, Ersson started 19 games, going 10-8-1. Tortorella rode him hoping that one more win would clinch a playoff berth and end the drought. With Ersson being a rookie, the pressure on a hockey starved city was too much. He shouldn't have been asked to save the season and be our savior.
The effects on Ersson were too much. Goalies, quarterbacks, and pitchers are strange characters in sports. They can have all the confidence in the world, but when something negative happens, they can totally lose their minds. All eyes are on them. Is it "all their fault"? That can be a hard feeling to shake.
For Ersson, you could see his confidence was shot. The talent was still there in spurts, but he had lost his mojo. In his full time rookie season, he appeared in 47 games, had a record of 23-19-7, a GAA of 2.82, with a save percentage of .890. It was good enough for a tenth place finishing for the Calder Trophy. However, his stats for the next two seasons aren't the same: 22-17-5, 3.14, and .883 in 2024-25, and 14-11-5, 3.12, .870 this season.
The confidence he had wasn't there. Especially after he gave up a goal. He seemed sulky and ullen after giving up a score. And while he is still young enough to turn it around, he just couldn't seem to shake it off.
Now, Ersson has been traded to Toronto. He still can be an RFA, so we'll see if the Maple Leafs will try to re-sign him. To be honest, it would be wise to do it as he would be a solid backup to another former Flyer, Anthony Stolarz. He has a chance to reset himself and get his mojo back; althouth Leafs fans also want to get back to the playoffs and finally get back to the Stanley Cup Finals after so many years of close calls.
Saying Goodbye
The funny thing about Ersson is this. He played part of four seasons here in Philadelphia. He leaves Philly tied for 12th place with Martin Biron and Brian Elliott with 65 wins. His seven shuouts tie him for tenth place with Pelle Lindbergh, Robert Esche, Tommy Soderstrom, Ilya Bryzgalov, and Biron. He wasn't a bad goalie. He was overused, overworked, and undersupported.
Some goalies in Flyers history, such as Bryz, leave a sour taste in our mouth. With Ersson, there is a trace of sadness because we know what he could have accomplished. We feel bad that the team ran him into the ground and then had the nerve to be disappointed when he couldn't cut it the following season. Hopefully Ersson can regain his skill set and become a solid NHL goalie again.
As for the Flyers, hopefully we learn the lesson and don't run Vladar and our bevy of prospects into the ground as well. We've come too far for us to blow it again.
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