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Originally Posted by puckluck2
I would love to see that article.
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Here's the one I was referring to, though there are others:
http://vhockey.blogspot.ca/2009/07/s...y-fantasy.html
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Why the sudden change in Bryzgalov's game? Did he really get that bad that fast? or did Phoenix play a better defensive game?
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Bryzgalov's best sv% was under Gretzky (as was his worst while in Phoenix) so I don't think the correlation is abundantly clear. He did have 2 good years under Tippett, but he also played well under Carlye and Gretzky for periods as well.
Maybe he's crumbling under the pressure in Philadelphia? Or maybe the natural variation we've seen throughout his career is just at one of its low points? I don't think anyone who has watched him thinks he's playing as well in Philadelphia as he did in Phoenix, irrespective of defensive schemes. Most starters are generally pretty erratic year to year and he's a good example of that.
I mean, look at last year's flavors of the month that people were saying were simply products of good defensive systems. Despite playing behind the same coaches and largely the same team, Smith, Elliott, and Halak have seen 30, 90, and 45 point drops in their save percentages. Small samples to be sure, but if they were simply products of their system then why are they performing so poorly under the same systems this year?