New goalies, new coach for Flyers

None of the Flyers' coaches or front-office executives will publicly admit it, but their off-season moves speak volumes: They blame their goalie situation for a lot of last season's playoff disappointment.

Au revoir, Marty Biron, Antero Niittymaki, and longtime goalie coach Reggie Lemelin.

Bienvenue, Ray Emery, Brian Boucher and Jeff Reese.

Emery has returned from his exile in Russia to become the starter. Boucher, coming off an impressive season as San Jose's No. 2 goalie, has rejoined the Flyers as a backup, and Reese has assumed the role of goaltender coach, a position he held for eight seasons with Tampa Bay.

Reese, 43, will try to help the Flyers improve on a season in which they ranked 16th in the 30-team NHL with a 2.83 goals-against average. (And, yes, defenseman Chris Pronger should help.)

Growing up in Ontario, Reese idolized the Flyers.

"So being here is an absolute thrill for me," said Reese, who played 11 seasons in the NHL and was a backup goalie with Hartford when Paul Holmgren, the Flyers' general manager, was Hartford's coach. "Bernie Parent was my guy. I just loved the way Bernie played; he was so fluid and graceful."

Goalie teaching is "completely different than it was back then," he said. "Now the guys are doing completely different things. They're going down now to stop the puck."

Emery uses the butterfly style, while Boucher has a more standup technique. Reese won't alter their approaches.

"He realizes an older guy like myself may be fully entrenched in a certain way to play," said Boucher, who started last night's preseason game in New Jersey and left in the first period with a lower-body injury. "Maybe I can pick up a few things . . . but mainly with the young guys, I think he's going to be more adamant about getting the guys to do certain things."

Boucher, 32, who first played for the Flyers from 1999 to 2002, said the fiery Reese has a different coaching method and is more vocal than the laid-back Lemelin.

"Reggie was bit of old school, and not so much technical stuff," Boucher said. "Jeff's more technical in his teaching. Both are positive guys, and I enjoy working with both of them."

"Reeser is educated on the game, but at the same time, he'll let you kind of put your own twist on games," Emery said.

Part of Reese's job will be as a psychologist of sorts - getting into Emery's head and not having a repeat of the sometimes bizarre behavior, on and off the ice, that marked his Ottawa and Russia stints.

"Ray's a big boy, and I think he's learned some lessons over time," the straight-shooting Reese said. "What happens off the ice, I can't control that. It's up to him to be a professional."

Reese, who was part of Tampa Bay's staff when it won the Stanley Cup in 2004, is a hands-on coach who frequently is the last person off the ice at practices. He is a stickler for fundamentals and studying video with the goalies.

Emery gives Reese someone who will be more physical around the net than Biron. Privately, some Flyers executives complained that the slender, 6-foot-2, 170-pound Biron was pushed off the puck too easily. That shouldn't happen as often with the 6-2, 202-pound Emery.

Breakaways. Martin Brodeur turned away 21 shots as the Devils shut out the Flyers, 1-0. Former Flyer Dainius Zubrus scored. . . . The Flyers are expected to make some roster cuts tomorrow; 28 players remain in camp, and the team can start the season with 23.