If Hockey Is A Team Sport- Why Do Flyers Goalies Always Get The Blame When The Team Is Losing?

In the last two seasons, the team has struggled to score. The goalies had to be perfect, or nearly perfect, in order for the team to win. But here's the thing, in order for a goalie to pitch a shutout - and therefore be "perfect" - he actually needs a defense. In nearly every shutout victory in the league the shot totals are somewhere in the 20-25 range, meaning the defense has more than likely helped the goalie by blocking shots and the offense has helped by maintaining puck possession for long stretches of time and scoring multiple goals. Flyers goalies usually face upwards of 30 shots in any given game, even with blocked shots. It's extremely difficult to be "perfect" or nearly so, when the defense in front of them is forcing them to face ridiculous plays that goalies are usually dead to rights on, and the offense struggles to maintain possession and score goals.

Now, let's not get my thoughts twisted here. I'm not living in a fantasy world because I will fully acknowledge the Flyers goalies in the last few seasons have had bad games, even bad seasons. They've allowed weak goals from time to time. Have even struggled for portions of a season. They're human and prone to making the same mistakes as all of us. There's absolutely no denying that, nor am I trying to. This isn't truly about the last couple of seasons, but the fact that this issue on a whole of blaming the goalie when the going gets tough, and saying it's a "team sport" when the team is winning pre-dates goalies like Carter Hart, Felix Sandström, Martin Jones and Brian Elliott(just to name the goalies of the last couple seasons in no particular order.) This issue runs as far back as I can remember.

When Martin Biron was with the Flyers, he had a fantastic quote. In an interview he did shortly after he won a game coming off a bad stretch, he was asked about playing in the city of Philadelphia with how harsh the fans and media could be. His answer was an absolutely perfect metaphor. He said "When things are going great, they[media/fans] will hand you flowers. When things are going bad, heads up, here comes the vase."(I wanted to link to this quote, but try as I might, I cannot find the interview this quote came from, but I remember reading it like it was yesterday.)

He's absolutely correct, and most of the time the antics of judging the goalie's play are started by the media, not the fans. Most fans think every rebound a goalie surrenders is a "bad" rebound, and aren't aware there is a such thing as a "good" rebound in goaltending, so it seems safe to think they will only notice a goalie is playing "average" because the media has made it a point to single it out.

Everyone knows what a bad goal is because it's obvious, but a bad goal does not mean a goalie is playing "average". Just look at the start of the season for proof of that. Hart allowed at least one "bad" goal in nearly everyone of his first 5 games, yet all of those games were wins.

What's funny is that a goalie can be playing "average" and it's immediately noted that if the goalie had just made a "couple tough saves" or "stopped just one odd-man rush" then maybe the team would have had a chance in that particular game. But why does the goalie have to make a million nearly impossible/tough saves, or stop one (or more) odd-man rushes, and when they don't they're absolutely crucified for it, but the offense can go dormant for several games and it gets but a passing glance? The goalie can only stop the puck, he cannot score at the other end of the ice.(Historic "goalie goals" into empty nets not withstanding) Yet, the scoring at the opposing end is what gets largely ignored.

They say "goaltending is the toughest position to master", yet they immediately pick it apart the moment a goalie "struggles" or goes through a "rough stretch". Again, this pre-dates our current goalies. If you look for it, there are noted times of Bernie Parent(pre-cup wins) being slammed for tough stretches. Pelle Lindbergh is another goalie that got the rough treatment when he hit a couple rough patches prior to his 1983/84 Vezina winning season. I'm sure, though I can't attest to it because I couldn't find any proof, that even Hextall had a few moments of being slammed for poor play in this city at some point.

I can't speak to other cities and how their fans or media handle their teams goaltending because I don't have first hand knowledge, but I do know in Philadelphia, for some reason, they feel like the goalie is the end all, be all of the situation. They say "It's a team sport", but that seems to only apply while the team is winning. When the team wins, they won as a team, but when they lose, the media chooses to single out the goalie and says that it's somehow solely his fault. Why does one guy(okay, two, if you include the backup goalie) have to shoulder the brunt of the blame when things aren't going well, but he only gets a portion of the praise when the team is winning? Just something to ponder as this years Flyers try to figure out how to win again.