PHILADELPHIA -- When Philadelphia Flyers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky was first approached to meet with the media following the Flyers' Winter Classic loss, his response was short.
Later.
He needed time to cool off, to get over the disappointment of losing a game on hockey's biggest regular-season stage. He didn't play poorly in the 3-2 loss to the New York Rangers, but allowing the soft goal to Mike Rupp that tied the game at 2-2 was a backbreaker.
Once most of his teammates were showered, dressed and gone from the borrowed Phillies clubhouse at Citizens Bank Park, a crushed Bobrovski appeared. He had an interpreter but his face said everything that needed to be said about how he felt about the game.
"Too bad I made a mistake," he said.
It was the first of a series of short answers to questions in a scrum that lasted two minutes only because it was being interpreted. He said he was hopeful that his confidence wouldn't be shaken after the loss and admitted that he felt the pressure that came when Peter Laviolette gave him the high-profile start instead of Philadelphia's $51 million goalie, Ilya Bryzgalov.
"A little bit [of pressure]," he said. "But tried to put it aside and not allow it to influence the game."
Instead of seizing the opportunity created by Bryzgalov's struggles and establishing himself as the answer in goal for Philadelphia, now there are only more questions. The biggest: What next?
To read more on the Flyers' sorry state in the crease and why Philly has no options other than to make it work between the pipes with their current goalies, become an Insider today.
- Senior NHL writer for ESPN The Magazine
- Wrote for Atlanta Journal-Constitution
- Wrote for The Sporting News
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Craig Custance
Craig Custance joined ESPN in September 2011 as an NHL reporter for ESPN the Magazine, ESPN Insider and ESPN.com. A graduate of Michigan State University, he lived for nearly a decade in Georgia working for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution where he spent time covering the late Atlanta Thrashers. He was the only Thrashers beat writer to get the team to the playoffs.
From 2008-11 he was the national hockey writer for the Sporting News, writing regularly in print and online. A member of the PHWA, he's a proud voter for the major NHL awards and can occasionally defend his selections.
Like hockey, he left Atlanta to return north where he currently lives in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, with his wife Cassie and their three kids.
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