Wednesday, November 1, 2006

By CHUCK GORMLEY
Courier-Post Staff

When John Stevens replaced Ken Hitchcock as Flyers head coach on Oct. 22, Robert Esche saw it as an opportunity to clear the air and stake his claim as the team's No. 1 goalie.

Stevens saw it as an opportunity to let Esche know that he would be evaluated on a practice-to-practice, game-to-game basis and that he would be graded on his attitude as well as his performance.

Stevens then made Antero Niittymaki his starter the next two games.

When Esche finally saw action in his first start under Stevens Monday night, he responded with a 26-save shutout in a 3-0 win over the Chicago Blackhawks. The big question facing Stevens now is whether he will reward Esche with a start Thursday night against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

On Tuesday Stevens gave his players their first day off since he took over for Hitchcock and declined to announce his starting goaltender against the Lightning.

If Stevens goes back to Niittymaki, who was pulled for the first time in his NHL career in Saturday night's 8-2 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins, Esche's role as a backup would be clearly defined. If Esche gets the call, the two goalies would find themselves back on even ground.

Through the Flyers' first 11 games, Esche, 28, is 1-2-0 with a 4.70 goals-against average and a .838 save percentage. Niittymaki, 26, is 2-5-1 with a 3.21 GAA and .877 save percentage.

Regardless of who plays Thursday night, several teammates say they have noticed a change in Esche since Stevens took over as coach.

"Since last week I've seen Chico (Esche) be more relaxed and more a part of the team now than he was at the start of the year with Hitch," Flyers left wing Simon Gagne said. "Why, I don't know. But he looks more involved with the team, whether he plays or not."

Stevens said he gave Esche the start against the Blackhawks as a reward for his hard work and upbeat attitude in practice. Esche said his work with goaltending coach Reggie Lemelin was his most productive in years and is eager to sway the opinion of Stevens and interim general manager Paul Holmgren in his favor.

"He's not a young guy anymore," Flyers defenseman Denis Gauthier said of Esche. "He's got a lot of games under his belt in this league (172) and he knows what it takes to be No. 1.

"I know being a backup is not something he prefers. He's going to do everything in his power to go back to that No. 1 spot. That's what true character is. Since the start of the season if he was mad about anything we didn't really know about it and that's the sign of a character guy."

Reach Chuck Gormley at cgormley@courierpostonline.com