Philadelphia Flyers Goalie Sergei Bobrovsky Should Stay in the Crease

When I attended Flyers games in the late '80s, I remember there was once a woman in my section with a shrill voice, who loved screaming at the home team. Her favorite person to yell at was Ron Hextall.

“Get back in the net!” she would shriek at the Flyers goaltender every time he played the puck out of the crease.

And considering the fact that Hextall is considered one of the best puckhandling goaltenders in the history of the NHL, I can only imagine the terror that strikes this woman if she is watching Sergei Bobrovsky today.

I understand that Bobrovsky is a rookie who is working on his game, and that Russian-style hockey doesn’t require goaltenders to play the puck, so there is a learning curve, but at this point he is creating two or three nerve-racking moments per game. On a few occasions, he was actually forced to make an awkward save while getting back into position.

I realize the importance of the goalie playing out of the net. Not only does it aid the offense by keeping the puck moving, but it also cuts down on those dangerous plays when the forward and defenseman are in a full speed race for possession.

Also, the arrival of the trapezoid in the 2005, which prevents goaltenders from playing the puck behind the goal line except in an area directly behind the net, has only made life more difficult for goalies not adept at setting up their defensemen.

For those reasons, it’s an intricate and essential skill to master, but it can’t be done at the detriment of your own team. That being said, I can’t recall the last time one of Bob’s adventures resulted in a goal for an opponent.

Regardless, I’d like to see him be a bit more selective now to avoid having this issue down the road when it really matters. For example: the playoffs.

So maybe it would be better for his development (and the fan’s sanity) if, for now, he limited working on his puck handling to practice and sessions with goaltending coach Jeff Reese after practice. That’s right, we’re talking about practice.

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