The setup: Robert Esche had the ability to become the next Jean-Sebastien Giguere, the overnight goaltending sensation who had led Anaheim into the Stanley Cup finals last season.

Since the Flyers had only recently completed their annual mini-postseason and had used Esche only for mop-up work, the suggestion that they had such a gifted goaltender right on the premises sounded, at best, like an ill-delivered joke. More, it seemed quite convenient, for Clarke was all but crossing his arms and vowing not to spend heavily for another goalie.

So Esche it would be, along with a sidekick of modest NHL talent. That turned out to be Jeff Hackett and, later, Sean Burke. And while a season of goaltending torment kept Hitchcock from the option of using a one-goalie system until recently, Clarke never flinched: Come the postseason, the G.M. said, Robert Esche would be the Flyers’ goaltender, and a good goaltender and, uh-huh, the next JSG.

Well? Could it be? Was Clarke a mad goaltending scientist all along, one who knew what he had in a goalie with 88 games of NHL experience?

The answer: Maybe. Not definitely. But maybe.

This being the 21st century, where sports heroes are appointed on an hour-to-hour cycle, Esche is now pre-qualified for cult status. He outplayed Martin Brodeur, the finest goaltender of this generation, in the opening playoff round and now, two games into the Eastern Conference semifinals, he is outperforming Hall of Fame goalie to be Eddie Belfour.

The other night at the Wachovia Center, in the Flyers’ 2-1 Game 2 victory over Toronto, Esche was sensational, especially with his glove hand, particularly late when Mats Sundin was organizing one of his typical charges. Afterward, as there will be every time a goaltender wins a game, the compliments ricocheted around the dressing room. None, though, was more succinct that the one from Jeremy Roenick: "When we have needed him, he has been there."

Now, though, comes the question that may border on impolite, but which will reveal whether the Flyers are about to win a Stanley Cup, or are just that much closer to another after-season application of cheap verbal salve: Is Esche as good as he’s seemed?

For now, that is impossible to predict, and up to Esche to reveal.

For now, though, this is also true: The 26-year-old has played just seven good Stanley Cup playoff games in his life. And that makes it risky -- not necessarily unwise, but risky -- to declare this the moment to yank uniform No. 1 out of the cedar chest for an un-retirement.

Seven games ... that’s all ... seven games.

Even as the Flyers took a day to exhale Monday, Hitchcock seemed willing to accept that perspective, reminding himself, if no one else, that the book has not yet been written on Esche, just about a dozen clever headlines, cramming his name into puns.

"Esche is just an emerging player," Hitchcock said, in a blast of his usual honesty. "He is no different than five or six younger goalies, like (Calgary’s Miikka) Kiprusoff and some other good goalies."

By now, it is understood -- or at least it should be -- that there is at least something different about the Flyers’ connection to their goaltender. Esche, perhaps as recommended by the sports psychologists he has found to his benefit, rarely says much, except after games. And that remarkable concentration seems to be to his on-ice benefit, as he rarely seems out of control.

Yet at the same time, Hitchcock has continued to stress that the players in front of Esche, along with the zone defense principles they apply on a shift-to-shift basis, matter even more. It is almost as if the coach is reluctant to provide too much praise for Esche, just in case that is interpreted as a signal to the rest of the Flyers that they can expect the goaltender to take over.

Consider that, then, another example of the genius that makes Hitchcock not just a successful hockey tactician, but an inspired leader of people. He has balanced the chore of keeping Esche confident enough to provide the spectacular saves when necessary, while making certain his defense is not so comfortable in its goaltender that it should be free of concern.

With that concentration from his teammates, and their determination to simplify his chore, Esche really has not been tested, at least not the way he will be tested as this tournament deepens, perhaps beginning Wednesday in Toronto. Then again, that was the Mighty Ducks’ secret through most of the 2003 playoffs: Their system benefited the goaltender long enough that, eventually, Giguere returned the favor with play-of-the-day highlights and a spot in the finals.

Could that happen for the Flyers? Is Robert Esche this tournament’s Jean-Sebastien Giguere?

Say this, but no more than this: After seven games, at least no one is laughing.

To contact Jack McCaffery, e-mail sports@delcotimes.com.