Bryzgalov Rumor

After sitting out of Tuesday’s game, Ilya Bryzgalov is facing rumors that he was benched due to snoozing in a team meeting.  On Wednesday the Flyers Flagship radio station, 97.5 FM The Fantatic, reported that Goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov was benched on Tuesday due to falling asleep in a team meeting.  Lavoilette, who is known to reward players who perform well, gave new comer Steve Mason a start in the net after an outstanding 3^rd period performance in the previous game. It makes sense that Lavoilette would want to start Mason in the net after he was a brick wall on Saturday blocking all 9 shots fired at him during his 3^rd period shift.  Bryzgalov has started in the net 22 consecutive times before Tuesday, although he has been less reliable this season, he was just regaining his confidence, winning 4 of the last 5 games. As of right now Mason is a backup goaltender but there are no doubts that the Flyers are grooming him to become a starter.  The Flyers have been denying the rumor and Bryzgalov fired back after last night’s loss to the Ottawa Senators saying:

"You know guys, to be honest, I don’t know where you get this information….Be honest, did you read yourself what you wrote? That’s embarrassing. You have to prove your sources. That was never happening. You became not professional journalist. It’s embarrassing, seriously. You’ve got to do your job better."

Last night back in the net, Bryzgalov played a stellar game against the Ottawa Senators, although the score was never in the Flyers favor. The Flyers continue to reach for their playoff dreams that are slowly quickly fading into the abyss after Tuesday’s loss. A team with high expectations and high hopes for this shortened lockout season will fall short with only 8 games left, the Flyers are running out of time. Bryzgalov has been the MVP of numerous games for the Flyers this season,  starting in 80 percent of the games this season he has kept the Flyers competitive. With a team that has been struggling to score all season and a weakened defense, it will be a shame to see Bryzgalov be an amnesty buyout this summer.