The Merry Go Round Stops Here

It just wouldn't be a Philadelphia Flyers season without the annual merry-go-round that is the goaltending situation.  And on Friday, that ride was unplugged until October.  The Flyers were unceremoniously swept out of the playoffs by the Boston Bruins...one post-season later.  Granted, this ride was running on all cylinders last year, when they managed to come all the way back from a 3-0 series hole, but you had to know that at some point, it was going to be shut down.  Little did anyone know that the team that blew the 3-0 series lead to the Flyers...would be the one to have that honor a year later.  The goalies in this year's merry-go-round?  Brian Boucher, Sergei Bobrovsky, and Michael Leighton.  Boucher was the guy that always seemed to have one bright, shining moment, but for the most part, never truly put it together consistently in his career.  On any other team, he would be a backup goaltender, but on the Flyers, he's a part-time starter.  For a while, Bobrovsky was in the discussion for the Calder Trophy, but then his first playoff game happened, and he was pretty much relegated to the bench, only to be anointed the starter in two of the games against Boston.  And the desperation move by the Flyers?  Michael Leighton, who was in the minors for most of the season when he wasn't hurt, and he started a couple of games in the playoffs, yet showed none of the 2010 post-season form.

Why the perpetual revolving door?  Only the guys in the Flyers' front office can answer that, but in the Flyers' history since their inaugural season in 1967, the only names in goaltending that have mattered at all have been Bernie Parent, Pelle Lindbergh, and Ron Hextall, and the last one on that list last played for them in the late 90's.  Here's another thing to ponder, as the door gets shut on the Flyers' season: the players that have suited up in goal for the Flyers since 2000-01?  Roman Chechmanek, Brian Boucher (twice), Maxime Ouellet, Neil Little (twice), Robert Esche, Sean Burke, Jeff Hackett, Antero Niitymaki, Martin Biron, Martin Houle, Michael Leighton (twice), Johan Backlund, Ray Emery, Jeremy Duchesne, and Sergei Bobrovsky.

That's fifteen goalies in a ten-year span that have at some point, suited up as a starting goaltender for the Flyers, and three of those have had more than one stint as a starter.  Compare that to every Stanley Cup winning team in that span, and the closest anyone could get to the Flyers' situation would be the 2007 Anaheim Ducks, who had two good goaltenders, and usually solve that problem by sending one of them to another team.  The Flyers, well, they don't truly have that one goaltender who you can say is the definitive starter or could start for another team, and until the goaltending situation is solved, Flyers fans will be on the merry-go-round again.