Is Beezer the answer in Philly?
by Jim Iovino,
Ace Reporter
The painful Ron Hextall Era is finally over in Philadelphia. The
signing of John Vanbiesbrouck made sure of that. After Flyer
goalies, Hextall in particular, stumbled through the
playoffs the past couple years, the goaltending situation seems to
have finally been corrected.
Or has it?
Is Vanbiesbrouck really the answer to the Flyers' woes? Can he lead
the team to the Stanley Cup?
While no one will know for sure if the Beezer was the right choice
until the Cup is raised next spring, the question will be looming
around the Flyer locker room throughout the year.
The Flyers chose Vanbiesbrouck over several other quality free agent
netminders this summer. Philadelphia could have had Curtis Joseph or
Mike Richter in goal on opening night instead of Vanbiesbrouck, but
general manager Bob Clarke decided on Beezer early in the off-season.
Why Vanbiesbrouck? Consider his splendid resume. The 35-year-old
veteran has won a Vezina Trophy, he's led the league in wins and
he's taken his team to the Stanley Cup finals.
Now the bad news: His Vezina Trophy and league-leading 31 wins came
in 1986, his last finals appearance was in 1996 and he's coming off
his worst season statistically since 1993 when he was left
available in the expansion draft.
These facts have left many wondering if Vanbiesbrouck's the right
choice - especially since younger, just-as-talented goalies like
Joseph and Richter were available at the right price. Richter
re-signed with New York to stay with his little buddy, Brian
Leetch. Joseph ended up in Toronto, making another young goalie,
Felix Potvin, available for the taking.
Both Richter and Joseph signed for more money than Vanbiesbrouck
did. So did the Beezer signing have more to do with money than
talent? Maybe, maybe not. But consider this: The Flyers give up
very few shots a game in the regular season. That can make any
goaltender look good. Hell, it made Hextall's numbers look like
those of a Vezina Trophy candidate. But Hextall's problem was that
he couldn't even stop those easy 17 or 18 shots a game.
Vanbiesbrouck, on the other hand, faced a plethora of rubber every
night in Florida this past season. With a porous defense in front
of him, Beezer faltered. Most of the time the goals were not his
fault. So even though his numbers slipped, for the most part the
Beezer was still the Beezer.
If Vanbiesbrouck had a solid defense in front of him like the Flyers
have in Philly, there would be many easy nights marked on his daily
planner, ala Eddie Belfour in Dallas.
So perhaps Bob Clarke is right in his decision to sign a cheaper
Vanbiesbrouck instead of a more expensive free agent netminder.
More money might not equal more wins. Vanbiesbrouck could be just
what the Flyers need - a solid netminder who will keep his team in
every game and make the forwards and defensemen work hard for their
wins, a trait missing from the Flyer squad last season. Perhaps
Clarke doesn't want to make his goaltender be a savior. He wants
the team to win instead of relying on their goaltender to win for
them.
Clarke could be right about Vanbiesbrouck and the Flyers could win
the Stanley Cup. But if he's wrong, he'll have a lot of explaining
to do after Philadelphia exits the playoffs.
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