Ilya Bryzgalov is a better man than I am. After hearing about how his former Phoenix teammates Derek Morris and Adrian Aucoin ripped Bryzgalov for how he played when he was a Coyote saying he was known for letting in bad goals, Bryzgalov went out and stoned the Coyotes en route to a 2-1 Flyers win.
Afterwards, Bryzgalov spoke a little about those comments and came away looking like a guy hurt by the barbs of guys he helped make the playoffs repeatedly while manning the nets in Phoenix. CSNPhilly.com’s Tim Panaccio gets the sad and respectful take from Bryzgalov.
“No, I didn’t hear what they said first of all. Second of all, I don’t know how to say this, you can’t be nice to the whole world; some people hate you, some people like you, some people love, some people it’s just normal. It’s just life. I hope they continue to play well.”
I don’t know about you but I’d love for Bryzgalov to write a book on philosophy with his take on situations in life. “The Tao Of Bryz” has a ring to it. It’d be something like what Bill and Ted came up with when they said, “Be excellent to each other.”
On the serious side, give credit to Bryzgalov for taking the very high road here. It would’ve been easy for him to take pot shots back at Aucoin and Morris especially in the afterglow of a victory, but he kept it cool and just did his own thing. In an era where trash talk is easy to come by, Bryz was the gentleman and let his play do the talking. Good on him.