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Flyers headed for surgery; Bryz's ranking, 'Giroux's Tears'

    by Sam Carchidi
    Published 

Several Flyers will undergo offseason surgery, the team will announce during the upcoming week.

Paul Holmgren, the Flyers' GM, said he would have a report a few days ago, but the list is apparently so lengthy that it had to be delayed while more players get examined to see if surgery is required.

One of the Flyers' biggest problems in the stunning five-game loss to New Jersey was that they had problems getting out of their defensive zone. Injuries to defenseman Kimmo Timonen and Nick Grossmann contributed; both had knee injuries, among other ailments, and both are expected to be on the lengthy surgery list.

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Bryz ranking. How did Ilya Bryzgalov compare with Flyers goalies over the last 10 seasons?

He tied for the most wins in a season over the last decade, was fourth in goals-against average and seventh in save percentage.

The numbers on Flyers goalies who played the most games in each of the last 10 seasons:

 GP  Record  GAA  SP

  1. 2001-02 Roman Cechmanek  46  24-13-6  2.05 .921

  2. 2002-03 Roman Cechmanek  58  33-15-10 1.83 .925

  3. 2003-04 Robert Esche            40  21-11-7  2.04 .915

  4. 2004-05 lockout

  5. 2005-06 Antero Niittymaki      46  23-15-6 2.97 .895

  6. 2006-07 Antero Niittymaki      52  9-29-9   3.38 .894

  7. 2007-08 Marty Biron               62  30-20-9 2.59 .918

  8. 2008-09 Marty Biron               55  29-19-5 2.76 .915

  9. 2009-10 Brian Boucher           33  9-18-3  2.76 .899

  10. 2010-11 Sergei Bobrovsky       54  28-13-8 2.59 .915

  11. 2011-12 Ilya Bryzgalov            59  33-16-7 2.48 .909

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       In a Russian interview for SovSport that was translated for Puck Daddy at Yahoo!, the Penguins Evgeni Malkin was asked about there being a "sort of beer" in Philadelphia called Crosby's Tears.

    Malkin laughed.

     "What can I say? I don't think I can say anything. This is Philadelphia and they all know how they feel toward Pittsburgh and Crosby. I hope next year we will beat them and come up with our own beer and call it maybe Giroux's Tears."

   Malkin was also asked how Bryzgalov can handle the pressure of playing in Philly.

  "I know it is tough and it affects your psyche, first of all. But he should have realized that Philadelphia is just that kind of a city, and it has always been like that," Malkin said. "Maybe he could have stayed in Phoenix and it would have been different? I don't know. You can never know what lies ahead.

   "In a career of a hockey player it's important to 'guess a fit' sort of speak and get on the right team, the right coach, the right fans. It's not always what it seems. But you have to get over it. I know (Ilya) Kovalchuk had some tough times in New Jersey when he first joined the team. It was tough to think that Bryzgalov would go to Philadelphia and they would win the Cup that first year. But they have a great team and will have a real chance to win it next year."

    Since Bryz has eight more years on his contract, it "means he will compete for the Cup every year he is in Philadelphia with the squad they have over there," Malkin said. "Just get some patience. You can't get anywhere in sports without patience.

    "And one more advice: don't read papers and talk less to the media."

Follow Sam Carchidi on Twitter @BroadStBull.