Flyers have full confidence in Boucher for Game 7

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Monday, April 25, 2011
Posted: 4:41 p.m.

By Sarah Baicker
CSNPhilly.com

Name it, and Flyers goalie Brian Boucher has probably done it somewhere along the timeline of his 11-year professional hockey career.

Since entering the NHL in 1999, Boucher has completed multiple stints in the minors. Hes helped a team battle its way to the Stanley Cup Final. Despite never being a starting goalie, he has held the best goals-against average in the league.

He started in a Game 7 once, toobut that was all the way back in 2000, during his run to the Eastern Conference finals as a Flyers rookie. And it didnt end well.

On Tuesday night, though, hell get his first chance at redemption since that ugly loss to the New Jersey Devils in a series the Flyers had at one point led 3-1.

But now, the 34-year-old goaltender says, hes much more prepared for the task.

I think whats changed is the fact that theres a lot of years in between then and now, and I think theres a lot of experience gained, Boucher said. I feel like Im a better goalie today than I was back then. The fact that I was fresh-faced and had a lot of energy and had a lot of spunk, I think that was what carried me at that time. But now, I think that Im a smarter goaltender, that Ive learned a lot.

In a surprising move, Flyers coach Peter Laviolette chose to make public his decision to start Boucher in Game 7 immediately following his teams overtime win Sunday in Buffalo, N.Y. Thats a far cry from Laviolettes normal practice, which is to refrain from talking about lineups at all until gameday.

To Laviolette, though, the decision to select Boucher for Tuesdays critical event at the Wells Fargo Center was easyand taking the pressure off by making his choice public was the right thing to do.

Hes been really confident, Laviolette said. Those opportunities off the bench, he just came in and settled everything down, as he did Sunday. He really seems to thrive in those situations, hes played well for us in the playoffs, and with a Game 7 coming up, I didnt want that to be the focal point, so we got it out there.

Its been a weird series for the Flyers between the pipes. Three goalies (Boucher, Sergei Bobrovsky and Michael Leighton) have started games, and all three have been yanked after poor first-period performances. Boucher made stellar relief appearances in Game 2 for Bobrovsky and Game 6 for Leighton, but he was pulled in Game 5 after allowing three goals on 11 Sabres shots.

A bit of a rollercoaster, sure, but Boucher has remained calm through all of it.

I feel fine, Boucher said. Personally, I feel like Ive had a solid series aside from three minutes. So I feel good about my game, and I give a lot of credit to my teammates. Theyve battled really hard in front of me, and theyve really given me a chance to get back in there with the way they played Sunday night down 3-1.

After the Game 5 loss, Boucher accepted responsibility for putting his team in a 3-0 hole. Following Sundays win, his teammates all commended his composedness. In the Flyers locker room, theres a belief in the veteran netminder the team thinks will benefit everyone dressed in orange and black come Tuesday night.

I dont think people understand how tough the situation is for him to come in cold off the bench, not seeing any shots until you get thrown right in the fire, Mike Richards said. Its obviously a tough situation.How tough it is and how good he has been at doing it not only this year, but his whole career that Ive known about.

Hes a guy that doesnt seem to get fazed by the pressure, and thats what we need.

Hes unbelievable, James van Riemsdyk said. Hes done that kind of stuff a lot, and he just always finds a way to get the job done. Hes been great for us all year, and both years that Ive been here, he just finds a way to win. Hes just a really big competitor, and I think thats one of the biggest things you can ask for in a goaltender.

The goalie struggles this postseason have been far from ideal. Goaltending has proven to be the primary difference maker in each of the Sabres victories, and the whole situation is just one more hurdle for the Flyers to surpass. But Boucher, and the energy, confidence and calm he brings to the teams locker room, has helped turn all of his teammates into believers.

I think everybody loves Boosh in this room, Danny Briere said. Hes the ultimate team guy. Were happy to see him play well, but its certainly not an easy thing to do, to come up cold and make some key saves and to keep us in the game, especially when were down that way.

Considering the Flyers recent history at the goaltender position, its easy to point fingers at the situation in net as the teams primary weak spot. In a lot of ways, it is; had the goaltending withstood early pressure in Games 1, 4 and 5, they potentially could have won in all three. After all, its been hard to find fault with anything else theyre doing on the ice. Save for a struggling power-play unit, the Flyers and their coach have been happy with each of the efforts they put out.

Its a funny situation, switching the goalies, Claude Giroux said. It cant be easy just to come in a game like that and help your team win. We have a lot of confidence in Boosh, and we know hes going to help us win tomorrow.

Theres certainly humor to be found in the goalie carousel. A newspaper in Buffalo even referred to the three Flyers goalies as the Three Stooges, a gag that Boucher accepted with the same sense of composure hes showed in net most of this Eastern Conference quarterfinaland through much of the regular season.

Thats pretty funny, he said. Which was the bald-headed one? Curly? Thats the guy I like the most. Maybe Ill be curly.

E-mail Sarah Baicker at sbaicker@comcastsportsnet.com

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