On Bryzgalov: What happened 3 years ago?

2007: Bryzgalov was on waivers and Capitals were the first in the list to pick him up, but George McPhee passed on him.

2008: (Capitals Insider) In a surprising move, the Caps have signed free agent goaltender Jose Theodore to a two-year contract. The team had been discussing a three-year contract extension with Cristobal Huet, but the sides couldn't close the deal this afternoon.

Okay, first of all, I am not saying that GMGM was totaly wrong on not picking up Bryzgalov for whatever reason he had. The goalies are of special species, you never know what's going to happen to them. Even the greatest, like Patrick Roy, had the games when they could let 8 goals in. I'd say Marty Brodeur is the luckiest because he played all his life for a defense first trap team, a.k.a. NJ Devils. The history has shown though that George McPhee had missed big on Bryz.

This year Bryzgalov competes with Alex Ovechkin for MVP. Imagine if he could be with Caps last year. Could he win a duel vs. Fleury? The answer is "Yes he could", and Alex Ovechkin and the Caps could have their names on the Stanley Cup instead of Pens.

Oh well, GMGM had a miss, but its like in that saying "Even the sun has its dark spots".

dccheapseats.com, November 18, 2007:

Okay, so let’s talk about this whole Ilya Bryzgalov thing, because a lot of people are claiming we should have picked him up.

I am not one of those people.

Bryzgalov is a very good goalie. I’m not going to argue that fact, nor will I argue with the fact that he’s 27 and probably in the prime of his career. To get a goaltender of his caliber without having to give up anything is very rare and it is, for some teams, a golden opportunity.

However…he is not the answer to our problems. He’s good but not great – he’s not the second coming of Patrick Roy or Marty Brodeur. Anaheim didn’t have enough faith in him to carry their playoff hopes last year and when Giguere was out with an injury to start this season, Bryzgalov was not exactly stellar in relief. They have a much better defense out there, too, in case you’ve forgotten.

I, like the Capitals organization, am not willing to give up on Brent Johnson just yet. I was stunned to see how quickly the battle cry turned to “get rid of Johnson!” after Friday night’s loss, so willing are we right now to point the finger at something concrete like a bad goalie that we forget logic and common sense. No, it wasn’t his best game. I could tell you that, the commentators could tell you that…Johnny himself would likely tell you that. One bad game, though, and we dump him? Why?


Comment by DMG — November 19, 2007:

I still maintain the Caps should have picked up Bryz. because I think they stand a better chance to win. Plus it’s not like Johnson is a prospect – he’s 30.

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