A day after accepting a tryout deal with the Wild, Bryzgalov was in camp with the team on Friday. He’d put up a .911 save percentage down the stretch with them last season and helped them win seven of his 11 starts, and his services might be required again. Niklas Backstrom is 36; Josh Harding broke his foot during a fight and missed significant time last season for MS-related reasons; and Darcy Kuemper, though promising, is inexperienced.
So maybe Bryz sticks around. There are worse things.
“Seeing Bryz walk into the room puts a smile on everybody’s face,” captain Zach Parise said, per Michael Russo.
Then, this from the man himself:
The delivery, indeed, makes it better:
Seriously, peoples’ attitude toward Ilya Bryzgalov are a great litmus test for whether you should be friends with them.
As far as hockey is concerned, it comes down to Bryz vs. Kuemper, at least until Harding recovers.
