New Flyers goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov was introduced to the media at a press conference held at the Virtua Center Flyers Skate Zone on Thursday. Here's the transcript:
On why he chose Philadelphia…
“The Flyers goal is always to win the Stanley Cup. That is what this game is all about. Winning is all that matters.”
“I’ve been in the league for eight years and every year I see they [Flyers] have good players. They always play in the playoffs except one year. Two years ago the team reached the Final and tried to win the Cup. When I played in Russia, I followed the NHL too and I saw that the Flyers were one of the top organizations who always has the ultimate goal of winning the Cup.”
On initial impressions of skating with the guys…
“I see lots of talent and passion. These guys want to play hockey and win.”
On the pressure of the contract…
“I never put the pressure on myself. I know my job. I know what I have to do. It’s from you [media]. It’s you that put the pressure on us and create the pressure on the team. (laughs) It depends on how you can handle it. I think I can handle it. I know what I have to do when I play bad. I know what I have to do to fix it.”
On Philadelphia…
“It’s fun; it reminds me of Russia a little bit. It’s very green here – lots of trees. The downtown area by Rittenhouse Square is a beautiful area. The people are very friendly. I like it a lot.”
On the contract situation with Phoenix…
“My agent did all of the negotiations. I didn’t know what was going on out there.”
On his agent making the deal…
“He spoke with me this season. He worked with the [Phoenix] ownership who said that they were going to talk to me and we saw that it wasn’t going anywhere. At that point, we knew we had to find a different team for me to play for…a team with the goal of wining the Stanley Cup. With all due respect to the ownership in Phoenix, it’s tough to do that out there.”
On getting to know the Flyers organization…
“Nothing has changed. I came to the organization with the same players who I’ve played against. I’ve met the people in the front office. We’re all hockey people. We know why we’re here and what we have to do to win.”
On enduring a long season…
“It’s all about practice time versus game time. When you feel physically and mentally tired and you feel like you need a break, you have to take a break because it’s tough to practice everyday and play every game. You would be exhausted. You have to take a break once in a while. You can do some light work-outs with a trainer, but when you play a lot you need some break time.”
On how many games he will play…
“It will depend on how much the team needs me. If they need me for 70 games, I will play 70. If they need me for 50 games, then I will play 50. The Coach and management will decide.”
On relationships with the guys…
“I played with Chris Pronger and Todd Fedoruk in Anaheim and Phoenix. [Chris] always said that Philly is a great place to play hockey between the management and the players here. We have a pretty good relationship.”
On any differences on playing in the East versus Western conference…
“I never played here. I can tell you later.”
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