Bill Clement

The Flyers’ turnaround is rare. It’s improbable. How does the NHL’s worst team one season transform itself into a conference finalist the next?

There’s more than one answer to that question, more than one reason why the Flyers, who established a franchise record last year for fewest points, are the first team since the Red Wings in 1987 to gain the conference finals a year after having the league’s worst record.

But when anyone summarizes what made this implausibility occur, they couldn’t go wrong with putting the play of goalie Martin Biron and center Daniel Briere at the top of their list. Both players came to the Flyers after stints with the Sabres (Biron in a Feb. 2007 trade and Briere as a free agent last summer) and Buffalo’s loss has been Philadelphia’s gain.

Hidden excellence
Biron’s brilliance in goal escapes the radar of many because he goes about authoring it without the benefit of great athleticism. His method of success stands in stark contrast to that of very athletic goalies like Marty Turco of the Stars, whose play draws raves not only for the results it produces but also for the manner in which those results are achieved. Turco’s like an acrobat – making a fair share of his saves by diving here and there.

That’s not what’s seen from Biron, who excels mostly through his meticulous reading of the plays developing in front of him and his consummate positioning. Reading the play is a much underrated aspect of Biron’s game. His skill in reading the play is best defined by his ability to immediately compute all options of an approaching puck carrier. And he trusts all those around him to help him out should the puck carrier choose an option he didn’t spot. That help will be there too as Biron is so incredibly popular with his teammates that they want to defend with him and defend for him.

Biron doesn’t put himself in position to have to make the miraculous save because that’s not who he is in goal. He can’t call on outstanding athleticism to bail him out. Fans and media tend to gravitate towards and applaud the great athletic performances of goalies simply because they stand out more. The subtle brilliance which Biron possesses can often go unnoticed unless people take the time to watch him closely. He’s almost like an acquired taste in that regard.

Better late than never
It’s highly unusual that a 30-year-old goalie goes to the playoffs for the first time in his career and takes his team to the conference finals. But that’s what Biron has done, outplaying his counterparts along the way and never letting the pressure of the NHL’s second season get the better of him. In Game 1 of their first-round matchup with the Capitals, the Flyers blew a two-goal lead they had heading into the third period and they lost in overtime. I spoke with Biron after that defeat and he seemed entirely relaxed. He’s at ease and at peace in the playoffs despite this being a new experience for him.

What was known about Biron prior to his coming-out party this season is that he has one of the most gregarious personalities in the game. One of his teammates in Philly, Braydon Coburn, says it best about how outgoing the goalie is when he jokes that Biron can carry on three conversations at once and be leading each of those conversations. He’s one of the most positive people I’ve ever met and an energy source for teammates.

What wasn’t known about Biron is that he had this kind of stellar play in him. It seems he has made the most of the chance to put to use what he observed and absorbed in Buffalo two years ago when the Sabres went to the conference finals behind the goaltending of Ryan Miller. Now in facing the Penguins for Eastern Conference supremacy he’ll have a lot of eyeballs on his play. If he can send Sid the Kid and the rest of the Pens into the offseason he’ll get the recognition and credit he deserves, moving his game to the level of the top-tier goalies in the league.

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