VOORHEES, NJ – Well, what looked initially as a wild rumor has officially become fact. The Philadelphia Flyers agreed to terms with goaltender Ray Emery to a one year contract. Terms were not disclosed but it is believed to be around a $1.5 million dollar deal. While the Flyers management early today sang the praises of Emery’s ability to play goaltender, once again Flyers fans on the other hand are left scratching their collective heads in what appears to be a yearly ritual. The search for a starting goaltender that will finally need the team to the promised land. Not since Ron Hextall’s rookie season have the Flyers had a true number one goaltender. Oh, there have been a few above average goaltenders, but in the Flyers entire history, you can count the number of quality number one goaltenders on one hand. The line of course begins with Bernie Parent. After that, there was Pelle Lindburgh, and Ron Hextall. That’s about the extent of it. Now, despite the words of General Manger Paul Holmgren that they are still negotiating with last year’s starter, Marty Biron, it appears that Emery is the man with whom the Flyers will once again pin their hopes on. Also, despite the fact that the numbers that show that Biron’s career numbers are better than Emery’s, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer, at least one of the teams upper management believes Emery is better than Biron. “We think Emery’s a better goalie than Marty,” said the anonymous Flyers executive who told the Inquirer. Really? How so exactly is he better than Biron? Biron’s has a 2.59 goals against average and a .911 save percentage, where Emery’s has a 2.71 GAA and .907 save percentage. Emery has reached the Stanley Cup finals, but Biron took the Flyers all the way to the conference finals. Last season Emery appeared in 36 regular season games with Atlant Mytischi, of the Kontinental Hockey League where he posted a 22-8-0 record and a 2.12 goals-against average and .926 save percentage. He also registered a 3-3 record with a 1.86 GAA and .941 save percentage in seven post-season appearances. During yesterday’s press conference, even Emery admitted the talent level in the KHL is not the same as in the NHL. Still, lets talk about what this is really all about. Money. The truth is, this isn’t about which goaltender is better, Emery or Biron, this is about paying Emery 1.5 for only one year or Biron for at least 3 years at somewhere between 4-5 million a year. The truth is, the Flyers feel that they can live with an slightly above average goaltender and upgrading their defense by going out an signing a free agent or two. The other option is that they can sign Biron for more money but then they’d have make trades to dump salary with some of their offense to sign only one free agent defenseman and barely upgrade their defense. Of course there is an underlying problem here that the Flyers had better understand in a hurry. That is the fact that they better learn how to build a hockey team rather than piece meal a team together. If the goal is to ultimately win the Stanley Cup, than they better start taking lessons from two teams: The Pittsburgh Penguins and the Detroit Red Wings. Come to think of it, aren’t they the two teams that are going to play in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals on Friday night? In a little over two more weeks, the Flyer, along with the rest of the NHL, will take part in the NHL Entry Draft. While the Flyers will brag in recent days about how well 2006 first round pick Claude Giroux played last season for the team. The problem is, with the exception of Jeff Carter, Mike Richards, and Simon Gagne, no other Flyers draft picks since 1999 have made an impact on the team. That’s four out of 69 draft picks that Flyers have hade since 1990. As far as the goaltending situation goes, the Flyers have drafted most of their goaltenders in rounds 4-7. Only three goalies were taken by the team in the first round, one in the second, and three in the third. Here is a breakdown on the round, and the year the team drafted a goalie. (Source: www.hockeydb.com) 1:95,97,99 2:79 3:85,88,08 4:69,75,77,88,05,06 5:72,91,96,01,01,02,03 6:82,98,00,03,03,06 7:74,81,92,93,98,07,08 8:71,77,78,04 9:72,93,94 10:77,82 11:78,83,90,91 12:74,77,86 To make matters worse, the Flyers could have settled their goaltender situation by drafting Jacob Markstrom in the first round last season. Instead, the Flyers made a trade with the Washington Capitals for Steve Eminger. The Flyers also traded former first round pick Steve Downie, and there are rumors that 2007 first round pick James Van Riemsdyk might be traded as part of a package. Oh, it gets better. Gagne is also a candidate to be traded if he decides he will waive his no-trade clause. Do you see where im going here? The bottom line is, the Flyers need to look at the Penguins and Red Wings on how to build a team. There are only three ways to acquire talent: The draft, free agency, and trades. The Flyers have not only not made the draft a high priority, they have treated it like the plague. Their team philosophy has been, why wait 3-4 years for a player when you can buy a proven veteran who can step in right away? That was fine during the non-salary cap era, but not anymore. Last season was proof that poor cap management effects a team’s long an short term goals. Now, the most important position in hockey is being treated as a minor nuisance by the team, a problem that is not new as has been proven by their draft history and their selection of previous free agent signings ever since the Bob Clarke era. The Penguins and Wings have made use of the draft to build the core of their team, sign free agents to build around the core, and make only minor trades when the team realizes they have a realistic shot at winning the cup. Until the Flyers learn the lessons from teams that have actually won Lord Stanley’s Cup since 1975, Flyers fans might as well keep watching Phillies games until someone in management gets the message. Getting back to Emery, the fans have spoken loud and clear ever since the rumor became fact that this move is not popular by any stretch of the imagination. Still, Emery appears at least to accept the challenge of winning the hearts and minds of Flyers fans. “I really appreciate the opportunity being given to me,” Emery said. “I lost that once before and have that in the back of my mind. I’m not saying I’m not going to be a fiery guy. I love playing hockey. I’m not going to do anything to jeopardize that opportunity and the people giving it to me.” “It’s a great position to have, a great job to be in. That’s the reason I’m going to change because I realize the good things far outweigh the mistakes I made the last year there.” “I missed the NHL, a competitive game every night, having that challenge. It was a no-brainer to come back when I had the opportunity.” Holmgren himself has some promoting to do of his own. After all, those season ticket invoices went out recently. “He is still a young guy,” Holmgren said. “He is going to fit on our team from an age standpoint, from a competitive standpoint. He is a good fit for our team. We’re really excited about this opportunity, not only for Ray but for the Flyers.” “Ray is a goaltender that we’ve followed very closely over the last number of years since he turned pro. We liked Ray’s competitiveness as a goaltender, his athleticism as a goaltender, his size, obviously, and his technique. We think, at this time, he is an ideal fit on this team.” “Obviously we had a goaltending issue, because three of the goalies in our organization are unrestricted free agents. We’re trying to work through that, and we’ve got one of those positions out of the way. We’ll continue to talk to Marty. We still need another goalie for the NHL.” Another goaltender, that’s the key here. Without a top goaltending prospect in the system, and with a draft that appears that no goaltender will be taken in the first round this year, the Flyers will need to make a trade for a young, up and comer that will challenge Emery from day one (see Josh Harding or Cory Schnieder for details). For Holmgren and Ray Emery’s sake, the move better pay off. If not, their will be a ton of empty seats in the stands, and cat calls from the fanbase to remove Holmgren from his lofty perch in the GM’s box. Contact the author at Brian.Jennings@prohockeynews.com
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