Ilya Bryzgalov

Pronounced: IHL-yah breez-GAH-lahf Pos.: Goalie Hgt.: 6-3 Wgt.: 210 Age: 30 Born: June 22, 1980 (Togliatti, USSR) Transactions: Drafted: 2000, 2nd round (No. 44), by Anaheim. Nov. 16, 2007: Placed on waivers by Ducks. Nov. 17, 2007: Claimed by Phoenix. June 7, 2011: Traded to Flyers for LW Matt Clackson, a third-round draft choice in 2012 and a conditional draft choice. Career stats: 156-116-35, 2.53 goals-against average, .916 save percentage Stanley Cup: 2007 with Anaheim Awards: 2009 Vezina Trophy runner-up International: 2002 (Salt Lake City)

ILYA BRYZGALOV performed his final stand-up routine of the season yesterday; please, tip your servers and try the caviar. It really was a Tour de Bryz. His target this day was the media. At one point, he said that perusing stories written about him - which he apparently does with a highlighter - often leaves him thinking, "Sometimes you're reading and it's like, 'Oh my God, who is this lunatic?' " But, he said, it doesn't bother him. "Not anymore," Bryzgalov said. "Not anymore.

Flyers goalie Ilya Bryzgalov was removed from Russia's roster after undergoing a medical exam, according to the Russian Hockey Federation's website. The national team plays in the Channel One Cup tournament in Moscow this week. Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren did not respond Sunday to a request for information. A Russian report indicated that the goalie has a virus. Bryzgalov, who signed a nine-year, $51 million contract with the Flyers before last season, has been playing for CSKA Moscow during the NHL lockout.

Ilya Bryzgalov apparently has found his way out of the woods. One day after he allowed four goals on 10 shots in a relief role, the Flyers' struggling goalie had his "swagger" back on Friday, according to Jeff Reese, the respected goalie coach and a man who has to be an amateur psychologist, trying to get the veteran back on track. The Flyers did not practice, but they had a team meeting at the SkateZone in Voorhees. Reese had a long one-on-one session with Bryzgalov, who has lost four in a row and has a 5.05 goals-against average and an .802 save percentage in that span.

When Ilya Bryzgalov is the most reliable player on your hockey team, things are either very good or very bad. You already know which way the Flyers have been going. They are a team with no clear identity and precious little time to forge one. As they have skated around in a fog through 10 games, the only real stability has been provided by their goaltender. Fans of irony will appreciate this more than fans of winning hockey. The fans in the Wells Fargo Center Tuesday night were enthralled by Bryzgalov's play.

After Alex Ovechkin's shot rocketed past Ilya Bryzgalov to give Washington a 4-2 lead, the goalie grabbed his water bottle and threw it at the Flyers' bench in anger. When Bryzgalov's bottle landed, orange Gatorade exploded all over the ice at precisely the time it appeared the Flyers were unraveling yet again. The one-timer was Ovechkin's ninth goal in his last 10 games. Was Bryzgalov showing shades of Cechmaneks past? Roman Cechmanek, also known as the "Bipolar Goaler," routinely and publicly called out teammates for mistakes during games, which often led to shouting matches.

Ilya Bryzgalov, the wannabe cosmonaut who enjoys critiquing journalists in his spare time, cannot be blamed for the Flyers' failure to make the playoffs this season. The quirky Russian goalie was good, not great, and his overall numbers - a pedestrian 2.79 goals-against average and career-worst .900 save percentage - are somewhat misleading. Because of his team's poor defensive play, Bryzgalov faced an inordinate number of odd-man rushes and breakaways. Bryzgalov, who will turn 33 next month, was one of the league's true workhorses.

ALL PAUL HOLMGREN had to say was, "Bryz is our No. 1 goalie, now and for the foreseeable future. " Words to that effect would have squelched speculation that the Flyers' deadline trade Wednesday for Steve Mason, a young, pedigreed goalie, might mean an early divorce from Ilya Bryzgalov. Instead, Holmgren said, "We see [Mason] as one of our two goalies, not only the rest of this year, but moving forward. We'll just leave it at that for now. " Of course, nothing concerning the Flyers gets left at that.

IN HOCKEY, pregame skates are usually quiet - players twirling around the ice in an empty arena in an attempt to shake the doldrums of a night's sleep. Ilya Bryzgalov livened the Flyers' morning skate on Wednesday when he exited his crease and winged his goalie stick across the ice in apparent frustration. It was a routine drill, one the Flyers perform religiously before games, yet something upset Bryzgalov. It has been a routine practice recently for Bryzgalov, who has tried hard to stay out of the limelight after a less than flattering introduction to Philadelphia last season.

AT THE START of this postseason, Ilya Bryzgalov was the question with no answer. Was he good enough to steal you a game or two or three? Was he flaky enough to sabotage one all by himself? It was a debate that seemed endless, and turned even the more rational Flyers fans into schizophrenics. So what to make of Tuesday night? Bryzgalov played one of those steal-it-for-you games, and the Flyers still lost. For two periods, he stopped shots, and rebounds of shots, and sprawled all over the place.

THE NEXT biggest save Flyers goalie Ilya Bryzgalov makes could be his job. There was already a possibility the team would buy out his contract this offseason. Which, if a recent interview is to be believed, would be fine with him because he has no love for Philly. In an interview with championat.com, a Russian Sports website, Bryzgalov touched on a wide-range of topics, including his respect for Joseph Stalin and Communism. Sam Donnellon writes more about that on Page 46. Here, we'll focus more on Bryzgalov's thoughts about the City of Brotherly Love.

Two years ago, the Flyers signed Ilya Bryzgalov and figured they had ended their l-o-o-o-o-n-g search for a shutdown goaltender. As it turns out, they already had an elite Russian goalie in Sergei Bobrovsky. They just didn't realize it. Bobrovsky, now with the Columbus Blue Jackets, was named Wednesday as a finalist for the Vezina Trophy, given to the league's top goaltender. The Rangers' Henrik Lundqvist and San Jose's Antti Niemi were the other finalists in voting by NHL general managers.

Third in a series THE ASSIGNMENT was a daunting one. Fix the Flyers' goaltending. How do you fix something that has been more or less broken since the 1987 Stanley Cup final? My opinion is not a popular one. Well, at least, judging by my inbox and Twitter feed. I would use one of the compliance buyouts on Ilya Bryzgalov this summer. Before firing off an email - obvious subject line: "Hey @$*#)$* stop running Bryzgalov out of town!" - hear me out. Part of the job requires me to be in the Flyers' locker room every day: training camp, practices, morning skates, home games and road trips.

Ilya Bryzgalov, the wannabe cosmonaut who enjoys critiquing journalists in his spare time, cannot be blamed for the Flyers' failure to make the playoffs this season. The quirky Russian goalie was good, not great, and his overall numbers - a pedestrian 2.79 goals-against average and career-worst .900 save percentage - are somewhat misleading. Because of his team's poor defensive play, Bryzgalov faced an inordinate number of odd-man rushes and breakaways. Bryzgalov, who will turn 33 next month, was one of the league's true workhorses.

In a small sample - seven appearances, including six starts - goalie Steve Mason was lights-out after the Flyers acquired him from Columbus on April 3. Here are the numbers posted by Mason and starter Ilya Bryzgalov while they played for the Flyers this season, along with their career statistics: Ilya Bryzgalov       Goals   Save       W-L-OT   against   pct.    With Flyers this year   19-17-3   2.79   .900    ...

The NHL managed to start its postseason Tuesday night without any help from the Flyers for just the second time in the last 18 seasons. Everyone has a different theory as to why the local hockey team was so flatly mediocre this year, but almost all agree the problems were most apparent when both teams had five skaters on the ice. Unless the NHL significantly alters its rules, that will continue to put the Flyers at a severe disadvantage if not...

ILYA BRYZGALOV performed his final stand-up routine of the season yesterday; please, tip your servers and try the caviar. It really was a Tour de Bryz. His target this day was the media. At one point, he said that perusing stories written about him - which he apparently does with a highlighter - often leaves him thinking, "Sometimes you're reading and it's like, 'Oh my God, who is this lunatic?' " But, he said, it doesn't bother him. "Not anymore," Bryzgalov said. "Not anymore.

STICKS RAISED in a salute, the Flyers gathered in a circle at center ice to mercifully bring the home curtain down on a forgettable failure of a shortened season. Numerous players - since 11 of the 20 on the ice didn't start the season with the team - took a moment to soak up the standing ovation. Perhaps no one took as long a look as Danny Briere. It was fitting, then, that Briere slam-dunked a power-play goal to lead the Flyers to a 2-1 win last night over the Islanders in what very likely will be his final home game in Philadelphia.

It's only a small sample, but recently acquired goalie Steve Mason has played much better - and has looked more confident - for the Flyers than he did for Columbus this year. His Blue Jackets numbers: 2.95 goals-against average and .899 save percentage in 13 games. His Flyers numbers: 2.09 goals-against average and .931 save percentage in five games. "There's a lot of work to be done, but I'm definitely happy with the way I'm feeling about my game right now," Mason, 24, said the other day. "I'm just trying to take it a day at a time, and make sure when I do have the opportunity, to work with the goaltender coach and take everything in. " Goalie coach Jeff Reese has made some adjustments in Mason's game.