QUICK HITS: SEPT. 6, 2017
1) I am of the belief that the notion that the majority of starting-caliber goaltenders in today's NHL are good enough to post impressive statistics under the right conditions. Put a strong team defense in front of him, provide at least middle-of-the-pack (preferably better, of course) goal support and the goaltender will usually do his part to give his team a chance to win. Put a spotty team defense in front and provide lackluster goal support and it will sooner or late drag down the goalie's numbers and win-loss record.
There is, of course, a small group of elite goalies. Below that category, though, there are lots of competent ones who may let in a few more goals that fall into the various "not easy but not impossible save" realms. Goalies who let in more the rare outright soft goal aren't long for the NHL, and certainly not as starters.
Back in July, new Flyers goaltender Brian Elliott noted how much parity there is among NHL goaltenders in today's game. He said that everyone has had the experience of being the "best" or the "worst" netminder in the league on any given night.
Former goaltender Ron Hextall reiterated a similar theme on Sunday, saying that even elite goalie such as Braden Holtby and Carey Price periodically go through rough spells during a season. All players do, the Flyers GM said, but it is simply more visible when it's a goalie.
While there are different "tiers" of NHL goaltenders -- what separates the Carey Price-caliber elite category from the pack is that their rougher spells tend to shorter in duration and spaced further apart -- both Elliott and Hextall raised legitimate points.
Raw numbers don't always tell the story. Games where a goalie sees a low volume but high difficulty of shots are often among the statistically deceptive when a few go in the net. Just because a goalie stopped only 14 of 17 didn't mean he was lousy that game. On the flip side, stopping 25 of 27 (.926 SV% for the game) didn't necessarily mean it was a strong game because most of the shots may have been routine ones and both goals may have stoppable ones. It all depends on the game and the situations that present themselves.
Last season, especially early on and then during the team's post-Christmas swoon, there were too many games where the Flyers didn't give up a high number of shots but there big breakdowns after long stretches without a shot. Then mix in a goal or two that was neither easy or nor impossible to save and it made for ugly save percentages.
Certain types of goals (heavily screened shots getting through from the point or deep slot, short side top corner from the faceoff dot on the rush, etc) goals are quite common leaguewide and not exclusive to Flyers' goalies. The truth of the matter, though, is that much of what gets blamed on goalies are actually breakdowns in front or perfectly placed shots, and much of what gets credited solely to the goalie is actually a product of solid team defense that gives the goalie a reasonable chance at making a save.
That said, every team needs its goalies to come up with the occasional high difficulty save or to survive a rough penalty kill solely because the goaltender was tracking the puck exceptionally well and came up with multiple tough saves. The ability to do this with some consistency is the area where the good goalies (i.e., most of the starting-caliber goalies in the NHL) get separated from the elites.
Incidentally, I would categorize the overall team defense and goal support received by now-former Flyers goalie Steve Mason as no better than average. On a leaguewide basis, the NHL median save percentage was .915 during Mason's years with the Flyers, yet his Flyers career save percentage was .918. He wasn't given a lot to work with but actually did an above-average job far more often than not.
2) Over on the Flyers' official website, I took an in-depth look at the development of left wing prospect Oskar Lindblom as well as his views on his push to make the team's NHL roster out of training camp.
There will to two more articles to come in the offseason series of prospect profiles: one will examine the short-term and long-term outlooks for 2016 first-round pick German Rubtsov and the other will focus on 2016 second-round pick Pascal Laberge's push for a bounceback campaign after a concussion plagued and all-around disappointing 2016-17 season. Previous articles in the summertime series looked at Travis Sanheim, Philippe Myers, Mikhail Vorobyov, Carter Hart, Felix Sandström, Anthony Stolarz, Alex Lyon, Morgan Frost, Tanner Laczynski, Noah Cates, the role of NCAA prospects within the Flyers farm system, the uptick in Flyers' Swedish scouting.
3) The Flyers released their full local broadcast schedule for the 2017-18 season. Download it here. Note: Keep in mind that the broadcast network names have changed. The new NBC Sports Philadelphia is still listed as CSN (Comcast Sportnet) and NBC Sports Philadelphia + is still listed as TCN (The Comcast Network) on the schedule but TV channel listings on your cable or satellite network system will look different.
4) Sept. 6 Flyers Alumni birthday: Bill Root (1959).
5) Sept 6 in Flyers History: The Flyers drafted Russian forward Alexander Selivanov in the 6th round of the 1994 NHL Draft. On Sept. 6, 1994, the Flyers traded Selivanov's rights to Phil Esposito's Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for a 1995 fourth-round pick (Radovan Somik).
Selivanov went on to have a career-best 31-goal season in Tampa Bay (1995-96) and scored a pair of goals against the Flyers -- including an OT winner -- in the 1996 Eastern Conference quarterfinal clash between the teams won by Philly in six games. Selivanov had an inconsistent career thereafter, but later had a 27-goal campaign with the Edmonton Oilers.
Selivanov married Esposito's daughter, Carrie. The couple had two sons together while also raising Carrie's son from a previous marriage. Tragically, Carrie Selivanov, passed away from an abominal aortic aneurysm on Jan. 13, 2012.
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FLYERS TOP 25 IN THE LAST 25 YEARS: JOHN LECLAIR
The pride of St. Albans, Vermont, and a member of both the United States Hockey Hall of Fame and the Philadelphia Flyers Hall of Fame, left winger John LeClair provided much more than the Flyers originally expected when they acquired him from the Montreal Canadiens. A third-line center for much of his Montreal career, the Flyers thought LeClair would be a forechecking and puck-protection asset to complement centers Eric Lindros, Rod Brind'Amour and winger Mikael Renberg.
Little did the Flyers -- or Montreal -- realize at the time that the trade would quickly result in LeClair blossoming into one of the NHL's pre-eminent power forward goal scorers of the mid-1990s to early 2000s. LeClair possessed both a rocket of a slap shot and an uncanny ability to collect goals off rebounds and deflections in front of the net. Once he parked his 6-foot-3, 225-pound frame in front of the net, the power forward was virtually impossible to budge.
During much of his stay in Montreal, LeClair was used as a center, although he also played left wing as needed. In 1992-93, he earned a Stanley Cup ring in Montreal. The young forward played an important part in the team's accomplishment as he scored two overtime goals in the 1993 Stanley Cup Final against the Los Angeles Kings.
LeClair and was acquired by the Flyers from the Canadiens in a blockbuster trade on February 9, 1995 that sent Mark Recchi to Montreal and brought LeClair, Eric Desjardins and Gilbert Dionne to Philadelphia.
Shortly after his arrival, Flyers head coach Terry Murray tried out LeClair on left wing of a line with center Eric Lindros and right wing Mikael Renberg. The coach hoped that the LeClair could open up space for his high-scoring linemates with his strong forechecking game and use his strength along the walls to bolster the line's puck-cycling ability.
Little did Murray - or even LeClair himself - suspect at the time that LeClair would almost immediately blossom into a goal-scoring machine in his own right while also contributing the assets for which he was put on the line in the first place. The trio, dubbed the Legion of Doom, quickly became the most dominant line in the NHL.
For the Philadelphia portion of LeClair's NHL career, the forward racked up 333 goals and 643 points in 649 games. Along with Tim Kerr, LeClair is the only player in Flyers' franchise history and the first American NHLer to score 50 or more goals in three straight seasons. LeClair's stellar production came during an era in which clutch-and-grab hockey and heavily use of neutral zone trapping systems contributed to a league-wide decline in scoring on almost an annual basis.
Although he did not play a particularly "mean" game and tended to be slow to anger, LeClair was plenty physical. It was a common sight for opposing players to be left sprawled on the ice near LeClair. He simply had to dip his shoulder and it was almost always the opponent who took a seat. LeClair was also blessed with a howitzer of a slapshot and would score about six to eight goals per season by winding up and blasting an overpowering shot past the goaltender from anywhere from the blueline to the mid-slot.
For many years, LeClair seemed almost indestructible. He appeared in 90 percent or more of the Flyers' games in eight of his 10 seasons with the club, scoring at least 23 goals in all of those eight seasons. He played in all 82 games on five occasions, including three seasons in a row from 1995-96 to 1997-98.
Eventually, however, the pounding took a toll. His effectiveness gradually declined in the 2000s as injuries - including major surgery on his back - and general wear-and-tear took hold. On July 5, 2005, the Flyers bought out the remainder of a five-year contract that LeClair had signed before the 2001-02 season. The player finished out his 967-game NHL career with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2005-06 and 2006-07.
During his stellar career as a Flyer, LeClair was a five-time NHL All-Star and represented Team USA at 1996 World Cup of Hockey, winning the championship, and subsequently at both the 1998 and 2002 Winter Olympics. LeClair currently ranks 5th on the Flyers' all-time goal list and seventh on the all-time point list but could be surpassed by Claude Giroux in the latter category by the end of the upcoming NHL season.
LeClair and Lindros were inducted into the Flyers Hall of Fame on Nov. 20, 2014. During the ensuing game against the Minnesota Wild, Flyers players sported one-night-only “10/88… patches on their jerseys. The sweaters with the special patch quickly become collectors items. LeClair was inducted to the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame in 2009. In 2016, he was part of a second U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame induction ceremony the entire 1996 Team USA World Cup of Hockey squad was collectively inducted into the Hall.
After LeClair's playing days, he and his family remained in the Philadelphia suburbs. Among other business ventures, he became a player representative.