Over the top and in the net

By Eric Redner

Sometimes I wonder if Robert Esche or Antero Niittymaki get that dreaded feeling in their stomachs like the soldiers in the trenches during World War I.

When the artillery barrage would lift, the officers would blow their whistles and British, French, German and, towards the end of the war, American troops would climb out of their trenches into a hailstorm of machine gun bullets. These incredibly brave men would then have to advance through hundreds of yards of open ground with little cover and little chance of coming through the ordeal unharmed.

Now, I'm not trying to equte hockey to war, but every night a Flyers goaltender is called upon to go on the killing field that is the ice, they face more rubber than a call girl at a political convention. The team ranks 27th in the league in shots allowed per game at 32.9 and dead last in goals-against average at 3.68.

While the bottom three teams have a better goals-against average then the Flyers, Niittymaki and Esche consistently face tougher shots thanks to a defense that can't clear skaters from out front, allowing for easier follow-up shots that generally lead to those garbage goals. In fact, I just watched Jordan Staal score a goal with two Flyers defenders right next to him.

A lot of people will disagree with me on this, but I think that the one problem this team does not have is goaltending. Both goaltenders are capable starters provided they have the support to help them.

Esche carried the Flyers to within one game of the Stanley Cup Finals in 2004 and had a decent season last year before the whole team fell apart in the first round demolition at the hands of the Sabres (who are going to win the Cup this year). Of course this year he has not been as sharp. Esche was getting shelled early in the year and had to have surgery that sidelined him for several weeks. He was in net for the Flyers only three-game winning streak of the season after he came back from his surgery, but he has had a couple of rough outings after those wins.

Niittymaki won the silver medal with Finland at the Olympics last year and was called upon to be the No. 1 goaltender this season when Esche went down with a torn abductor muscle. Of course Niittymaki went on a run of almost two months when he didn't win a game, but many of those nights he was facing 30-plus and sometimes 40-plus shots and receiving very little offensive support.

That said I think it would be in Philadelphia's best interest to deal one of these goaltenders, if not at the trade deadline, sometime in the offseason. And sorry all you Esche-backers, but I would rather have Niitty in net to start next year.

A little side note, does anyone else think it is the oddest thing that theFlyers are dead last in goals-against average, but have the fourth best penalty killing unit in the league? Kind of makes you think that whenever a team is attacking in the Flyers end someone should do a bit of boarding, tripping or cross checking, since the team is terrible even-strength.