Ilya Bryzgalov

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 This article does not cite any references or sources. (November 2007)
Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.
Position Goaltender
Catches Left
Height
Weight		 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
198 lb (90 kg/14 st 2 lb)
NHL Team
F. teams		 Phoenix Coyotes
Anaheim Ducks
Nationality Flag of Russia Russia
Born June 22, 1980 (1980-06-22) (age 27),
Togliatti, SU
NHL Draft 44th overall, 2000
Anaheim Ducks
Pro career 1999 – present
Olympic medal record
Men's Ice hockey
Bronze 2002 Salt Lake City Ice hockey

Ilya Nikolayevich Bryzgalov (Russian: Илья Николаевич Брызгалов) (b. June 22, 1980 in Togliatti, U.S.S.R.), nicknamed Bryz, is a professional ice hockey goaltender for the Phoenix Coyotes of the National Hockey League. He was selected in the second round of the 2000 NHL Entry Draft, 44th overall, by the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. He was a member of the 2002 Russian Olympic team, being awarded a bronze medal. Bryzgalov also made the majority of the starts for the Russian squad at the 2004 World Cup of Hockey, playing in 240 minutes and recording a 2.34 GAA in three games.

Contents

[edit] Career

Ilya started his professional career in Russian hockey league in 1999. He was "rented" to a second-league team (which used to be a usual practice for rookie players in Russia), HC Spartak Moscow but soon was spotted by his main team, Lada Togliatti. Bryzgalov played two seasons there, but decided to break the contract because of some conflicts with team management. Many Russian teams tried to compete for him after that incident, but Ilya decided to try his luck overseas.

Ilya Bryzgalov playing for the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks.
Ilya Bryzgalov playing for the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks.

Bryzgalov spent parts of four seasons with the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks of the AHL, although he saw some limited time in Anaheim. Long considered to be the future goaltender for the Ducks, Bryzgalov's future role with the big club was likely compromised somewhat with the outstanding performance of goaltending teammate Jean-Sebastien Giguere in the 2002–03 playoffs. Giguere led the Ducks to the Stanley Cup Finals where they lost in seven games to the New Jersey Devils and was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoffs MVP. As a result, the team chose to allow Bryzgalov to develop in Cincinnati, where he could adjust to the idiosyncrasies of the North American game, and become better prepared for duties at the NHL level, while also receiving the majority of the starts and significant playing time.

Bryzgalov warming up before a game.
Bryzgalov warming up before a game.

During the 2005–06 season, Bryzgalov played back-up to Giguere. However, injuries to Giguere allowed Ilya to play more games than he otherwise would have and he responded to the challenge with strong results. In 31 games that season, Bryzgalov had 13 wins and 12 losses with one tie, an impressive 2.51 GAA, and a strong .910 save percentage. Bryzgalov made three starts and one relief appearance for the Ducks in their first-round playoff series against the Calgary Flames. In Game 1 he filled in for a dehydrated Jean-Sebastien Giguere, taking a 2–1 overtime loss. He relieved Giguere in Game 5, and stopped all 19 shots he faced. He took over the starting job for Games 6 and 7 of the series, winning 2–1 in Game 6 and recording a shutout in the decisive Game 7. Bryzgalov started Game 1 of the second round against the Colorado Avalanche, and recorded his second consecutive shutout as the Ducks won 5–0. Bryzgalov's consecutive shutouts were the first for a rookie goaltender in the NHL playoffs since Frank McCool achieved the feat in 1945. Bryzgalov tied McCool's rookie record of three consecutive playoff shutouts when he blanked the Avalanche yet again in Game 2, as the Ducks won 3–0. Currently, he is the 2nd all time playoff shutout streak leader, the highest rookie, and the highest in the modern era. Only one other goalie in recent times has their name on that list, albeit a few spaces lower, that being J.S. Giguere, who accomplished his own feat in the 2002–2003 playoffs. But in Round 3 against the Edmonton Oilers, everything went wrong. The Oilers took Games 1 and 2 easily, both by scores of 3–1. Bryzgalov allowed 4 goals in each game, with the other two coming from empty net goals. Then in Game 3, Bryzgalov let in three shots in a 2 minute eleven second span to make the score 4–0 Edmonton. The Ducks tried to fight back with 4 more goals, but the final score that night was 5–4 Edmonton. It was Byrzgalov's last game of the playoffs before being replaced by J.S. Giguere for the rest of the series. The Oilers won the series easily, 4 games to 1.

Bryzgalov warming up during the 2007 playoffs.
Bryzgalov warming up during the 2007 playoffs.

Despite his playoff run, in the 2006–07 season, Bryzgalov had played significantly less games than Giguere, and had been pulled from two of his five starts. Bryzgalov also made comments regarding Anaheim Ducks coach Randy Carlyle, saying he believed Carlyle has no confidence in him. Bryzgalov became the starter after an injury to Giguere. Bryzgalov started the first four games of the 2007 Western Conference quarter finals while Giguere was dealing with personal issues. He won the first three games for The Ducks, but lost game four. Giguere was back for game five, and took over for the rest of the post season, except for one game in the Western Conference Finals where Giguere had allowed three goals and Bryzgalov came in for relief. Bryzgalov allowed two goals making the score 5–0 Detroit. The Ducks went on to defeat the Ottawa Senators in 5 games to win the Stanley Cup.

With the re-signing of Giguere to a four-year contract, Bryzgalov appeared to be on his way out of Anaheim. The Ducks attempted to trade Bryzgalov at the 2007 NHL Entry Draft, but were unable to make a trade.

On November 16th, 2007, Bryzgalov was placed on waivers by his general manager Brian Burke. He was claimed off waivers by the Phoenix Coyotes on November 17, 2007. In his first game with the team that same day, Bryzgalov made 27 saves for his 3rd career shutout in a 1–0 win over the Los Angeles Kings.

[edit] Transactions

[edit] Trivia

[edit] Career statistics

[edit] Regular season

   
Season Team League GP W L GAA SV% GA SA SO
1998–99 Krylya Sovetov Moscow RSL-2 9 n/a n/a 2.52 n/a 21 n/a 0
1998–99 Lada Togliatti RSL 14 n/a n/a 1.36 n/a 18 n/a 3
1999–00 Lada Togliatti RSL 34 n/a n/a 1.84 n/a 8 n/a 0
2000–01 Anaheim Ducks NHL 1 0 0 1.88 .917 1 12 0
2000–01 Cincinnati Mighty Ducks AHL 45 20 61 2.48 .916 99 1185 4
2001–02 Cincinnati Mighty Ducks AHL 54 12 26 2.82 .910 142 1579 1
2002–03 Cincinnati Mighty Ducks AHL 64 27 25 2.32 .919 145 1789 6
2003–04 Cincinnati Mighty Ducks AHL 36 17 13 2.60 .902 87 886 4
2003–04 Anaheim Ducks NHL 1 1 0 2 .929 2 26 0
2005–06 Anaheim Ducks NHL 31 13 12 2.51 .910 66 667 1
2006–07 Anaheim Ducks NHL 27 10 8 2.47 .907 62 668 1
2007–08 Anaheim Ducks NHL 9 2 3 2.55 .909 19 208 0
2007–08 Phoenix Coyotes NHL 55 26 22 2.43 .921 128 1621 3
NHL REG. SEASON TOTALS 124 52 45 2.46 .915 278 3270 5
AHL REG. SEASON TOTALS 199 76 80 2.54 .913 473 5439 15
RSL REG. SEASON TOTALS 48 n/a n/a 1.70 n/a 79 n/a 11
RSL-2 REG. SEASON TOTALS 9 n/a n/a 2.52 n/a 21 n/a 0

[edit] Playoffs

   
Season Team League GP W L GAA SV% GA SA SO
1999 Lada Togliatti RSL 0 0 0 1.47 n/a 10 n/a 1
2000 Lada Togliatti RSL 7 n/a n/a 1.92 n/a 8 n/a 0
2001 Anaheim Ducks NHL 5 0 0 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a
2003 Cincinnati Mighty Ducks AHL 9 5 4 3.02 .909 27 298 1
2004 Cincinnati Mighty Ducks AHL 9 3 3 2.48 .904 13 135 0
2005 Anaheim Ducks NHL 7 6 4 1.45 .944 16 285 3
2006 Anaheim Ducks NHL 5 3 1 2.24 .922 10 128 0
NHL PLAYOFF TOTALS 16 9 5 1.68 .937 26 413 3
AHL PLAYOFF TOTALS 16 8 7 2.82 .908 40 433 1
RSL PLAYOFF TOTALS 12 n/a n/a 1.64 n/a 18 n/a 1

[edit] External links