By CHUCK GORMLEY
Courier-Post Staff

When Robert Esche closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, he can take himself back to April 8, 2004, the night of his first Stanley Cup playoff game as the Flyers' starting goaltender.

"I'll never forget walking through that tunnel for our first game against Jersey," Esche said of the 2004 Eastern Conference quarterfinals. "This place was going nuts. I thought to myself, "You know what? You're home. You're finally where you want to be.' "

Six weeks later, Esche had proven to himself and to his many critics that he was capable of playing big in the most pressure-packed games of the season.

"That excitement almost teased me to a level where I want to get back there," Esche said as he prepares to begin his first full season as the Flyers' No. 1 goalie.

"It pulls on your heartstrings and I can't wait to get there again," he said. "I will do anything to get there again. If it means being a leader, I'll lead. If it means taking a back seat, I'll take a back seat.

"Man, I'll be the trainer and the goalie if I have to. I just want to get there again and go further. We were two goals away from going to the Finals."

At the age of 26, Esche had established himself as a top-flight goaltender and hoped to cash in with a long-term contract with the Flyers. Instead, he underwent hip surgery, endured an entire season without hockey and watched Antero Niittymaki lead the Phantoms to a Calder Cup title and earn playoff MVP honors.

Flyers coach Ken Hitchcock quickly quelled the speculation by naming Esche as his starter. But he left the door of opportunity open a crack for Niittymaki, who at 25 is a year and half younger than Esche.

"I think there's a learning curve Robert has that Niitty has to go through," Hitchcock said. "Hopefully, it's accelerated like we think it will be. We think this guy's going to get good fast. But we have to be patient with him, just like we were with Eschey. It took Eschey four years to grow into that (starter's) role. Hopefully, it will take Niitty four months."

Four months? That brings us to the beginning of February, two months before the start of the Stanley Cup playoffs. If Hitchcock is grooming Niittymaki for a playoff run he certainly isn't telling him, or anyone else.

"I'm just trying to stop the puck and let everyone else decide," Niittymaki said.

To his credit, Niittymaki refuses to get sucked into a goaltending controversy. His carefree approach to the game translates onto the ice, where he rarely lets the emotions of the game get the best of him.

Esche is the first to admit he is all about emotion and understands the starter's job can be a slippery thing.

"It's an exciting thing," Esche said, "when someone says, "Here's the ball, run with it. Take us to the Promised Land. But also know that if you fumble that ball, somebody else will pick it up and run with it.' I like that pressure, and I'm excited to have a young goalie pushing me. I think he's going to push me harder than anybody else had.

"I'm not looking at it like, "When are they going to just let me play every game and take this pressure away from me?' "

Esche said he's lost 14 pounds since losing that Game 7 to the Tampa Bay Lightning 17 months ago. He says he's leaner, stronger and prepared for the grind of an 82-game schedule.

"I don't look at it like, "OK, I'm the starter,' " he said. "I'm still really young and there's so much more I can bring to the table. I still think there's a lot more I can offer."

Reach Chuck Gormley at cgormley@courierpostonline.com