Is Biron the Answer?

It’s late August, and that means two things: Baseball pennant races and the start of football is upon us. So the next logical step is to talk about hockey, right? No? Well, I’m going to do it anyway. With the Flyer’s off-season transformation complete, there is a lot of optimism coursing through the Philadelphia area. But considering the team is coming a franchise worst season where they finished last in the NHL, is there too much optimism? That remains to be seen, but there is one position in particular where that may be the case. Martin Biron came over in a trade from the Buffalo Sabres before the end of last season. He helped the team finish relatively strong, and was later signed to a contract extension. He is being penned by many as the clear cut starting goaltender that the Flyers have consistently lacked. But should he be?

Maybe Biron shouldn’t be built up to be a savior in goal. After all he did lose the starting job in Buffalo to Ryan Miller. Yes, Miller is a great young goaltender, but how smart is it to call a backup goalie the answer for your team. Now if the Flyers went out and got a backup, like Ilya Bryzgalov, who has proven his ability to lead a team in the playoffs, there would be more reason for the optimism.

Secondly, the idea that a team needs one clear cut star in goal to win is a little antiquated. Granted, a great goalie can make a team dramatically better, but it is not a necessity. In today’s game it is more important for a team to have two solid goalies, and for one of those goalies to get hot come playoff time. Last season, the Ottawa Senators made it to the Stanley Cup finals with an average goalie in Ray Emery. They won from balanced offense and solid defense.

Finally, and most significantly, goaltending has not been the Flyer’s problem over the past 5-10 years. No matter how much anyone tries to tell you this, don’t believe them. Last year the problem was simply everything. Take a look at all the quality chances opposing teams got game in and game out, and it’s hard to put the blame on Antero Nittymaki. The team started to win when Biron arrived largely due to the improved play of the defense. In previous years, they’ve continually had great goaltending performances. Brian Boucher, Roman Czekmanek, Robert Esche have all put on great playoff performances. If ‘Manek could have gotten any offensive support, the Flyers could’ve went deep into the playoffs. Both Boucher and Esche took the team within one win of the finals.

Is Biron an upgrade at goal? Probably. But at the very least, he gives the Flyers two very viable options in goal – a requirement in today’s NHL. It is a little inappropriate, however, to label Biron the “answer,” considering that the question came from everywhere on the ice except the goal.