Momentum turns on every save made in the East

Sporting News, The, Jan 25, 1999 by Larry Wigge

Eric Lindros, at 6-4 and 236 pounds, just nods. No question needed asking. John LeClair, 6-3, 226, doesn't wait for the question, either, pointing to a 5-7, 176-pound, 35-year-old with gray specks gracefully sprinkled through his dark hair. The impish John Vanbiesbrouck was supposed to be the third-choice goaltender of the Flyers. Instead, he has done things the most-revered Philadelphia goalies--Bernie Parent, Pelle Lindbergh and Ron Hextall--could not.

Vanbiesbrouck's hot streak: three consecutive shutouts and no goals allowed in four consecutive games, covering 212 minutes, 11 seconds, including five of his 25 saves against Capitals 50-goal scorer Peter Bondra in a 3-0 victory last Thursday. The streak ended in a 4-3 loss to Toronto last Saturday.

Mike Richter cost the Rangers more than $21.7 million over four years, and Curtis Joseph raked in $24 million over four years from the Maple Leafs. Vanbiesbrouck was the bargain of the summer goalie sweepstakes, agreeing to a two-year, $8.33 million deal.

"Hockey is a game of momentum," Lindros says, "and time and time again Johnny makes the tide-turning save and we come right back and score at the other end of the ice."

Momentum is an art in this game. Although the Flyers have stressed size and strength for so long, it's no coincidence the speed and discipline Vanbiesbrouck displays between the pipes was the momentum builder in his team's recent 10-0-5 streak.

G.M. Bobby Clarke always has argued for a competitive, aggressive goalie such as Hextall. But he can't possibly forget the steady, yet technically correct Parent, who led the Flyers to Stanley Cup titles in 1974 and '75. Parent made similar tide-turning saves and then let Clarke, Bill Barber, Reg Leach, Rick MacLeish and others score the goals.

Vanbiesbrouck has five shutouts and has yielded one goal in nine of his other 29 starts, posting an impeccable 1.80 goals-against average.

"I said last summer I wasn't a coat off the rack," says Vanbiesbrouck, who could become the first Flyers goalie to allow less than two goals per game since Parent had 1.89 in 1973-74.

The Flyers have learned: Just leave it to The Beezer.

"I think it's clear that Mike Richter is the most attractive of those goalies," Canucks coach Mike Keenan says, "but it's obvious John has fit the Flyers' style of play exactly. Roger Neilson had success in Florida with Vanbiesbrouck in goal there for a couple of years. The two go together well, regardless of what he cost."

The two? Vanbiesbrouck makes all the players around him, even a suspect-at-best defense, show an attitude they haven't had in the past.

Before this streak, the Flyers looked like the same old team. Big, strong, slow. Led by the scoring of Lindros and LeClair. Little productivity from the second line, and that darned defense fumbling around in its zone with the puck.

What's left unsaid is Vanbiesbrouck is no different from the goaltenders whose high energy and timely saves led the Capitals and the Sabres to the Eastern Conference finals. Vanbiesbrouck simply joins a group of blue-chip backstoppers in the East who ignite their teams.

"I'd like to say we're playing great in front of him," Flyers defenseman Dan McGillis says. "But it's mostly John. I've never seen a goalie who is always in exactly the right position."

Fans were upset because the Flyers didn't sign Richter, a native of Abington, Pa. My question: Aren't these the same fans who thought Hextall was just fine when the Flyers went to the Stanley Cup finals two years ago-only to be swept by Detroit?

One thing is perfectly dear: No goaltender will face more pressure than Vanbiesbrouck, obviously because the Flyers are expected to win. But it's equally clear that The Beezer is out to prove he is the right guy to get the Flyers back to the finals because he stands up, plays the angles and keeps the puck to the outside-exactly where it is supposed to be in Neilson's system.

Vanbiesbrouck was a disappointing 18-29-11 with a 2.87 goals-against average in 60 games for the Panthers last season. But his average for five seasons with an expansion team was an impressive 2.58, and he carried Florida to the finals three years ago.

Lindros is right when he says hockey is a game of momentum: Teams win with chemistry to form a confident and sometimes cocky unit.

TSN's Power Poll

Rk.   Team               W-L-T    Comment

 1.   Dallas            27-7-7    On pace for 122 points; franchise
                                   record is 109.
 2.   New Jersey       23-13-5    Small, fast Senators continue to
                                   attack big, slow defense.
 3.   Philadelphia    22-10-10    The Beezer is blanking opponents
                                   left and right.
 4.   Buffalo          22-12-7    Offense isn't jumping. Hack, even
                                   Hasek need one night off.
 5.   Ottawa           23-13-6    Who said Europeans couldn't be
                                   good captains? Look at Yashin.
 6.   Toronto          25-15-3    Outskating Lindros line boosts
                                   confidence of this young team.
 7.   Phoenix          23-11-5    Tkachuk's return should boost a
                                   wavering offense.
 8.   Pittsburgh       22-12-7    Coach Constantine on Lang: "A
                                   little bit of a pleasant
                                   surprise."
 9.   Detroit          22-18-3    Main ingredients for this team to
                                   win--speed and determination.
10.   Boston           19-15-7    Playing catchup isn't a good
                                   recipe for this weak offense.
11.   Carolina         19-17-7    Franchise has two All-Stars for
                                   the first time in 12 years.
12.   Colorado         20-19-4    Giving the Blues the blues:
                                   three straight shutouts in
                                   Denver in '98-99.
13.   St. Louis        16-15-9    Slump-ridden Campbell-to-Boston
                                   rumors are starting.
14.   Florida          15-15-11   Bure will help fill seats in new
                                   Florida arena.
15.   Edmonton         17-19-6    Smyth has four goals, but he's
                                   finally showing his old pizzazz.
16.   N.Y. Rangers     17-19-7    With Harvey out, Nedved,
                                   Sundstrom and Knuble have to
                                   score.
17.   Montreal         17-20-7    Threat of big changes puts
                                   pressure on Habs ... if just
                                   briefly.
18.   Anaheim          16-18-8    Coach Hartsburg's not happy with
                                   team's up-and-down play.
19.   San Jose         14-18-11   Defense will be stretched even
                                   more with Marchment sidelined.
20.   Washington       16-22-3    Finally, they figure it out: You
                                   have to shoot to score.
21.   Los Angeles      16-23-4    Blake has been producing at both
                                   ends of the ice.
22.   Nashville        15-23-4    Team wants to give young
                                   defensemen a chance to step up.
23.   Vancouver        14-23-6    Finally, Bure is moved. But it's
                                   for too little and probably too
                                   late.
24.   Calgary          14-26-4    Who is that masked man? Why,
                                   it's ex-Oilers backup
                                   Brathwaite.
25.   Chicago          12-25-6    Making mistakes, missing
                                   opportunities on offense
                                   describes Hawks.
26.   N.Y. Islanders   13-28-3    What happened to the Jaguars' NFL
                                   success owners brought to Isles?
27.   Tampa Bay         9-30-4    Team has it all: Poor
                                   goaltending, soft defense,
                                   no offense.