Forget brotherly love

Robert Esche survives playing goaltender in Philadelphia's pressure cooker
because he's harder on himself than are the Flyers' fans.

BY BRIAN MURPHY

Pioneer Press

Tending goal in Philadelphia can have all the charm of an IRS audit.

The demanding town that lionized Bernie Parent, Pelle Lindbergh and Ron Hextall during the Flyers' halcyon days in the 1970s and '80s has ground several passersby into mulch in the past decade.

Team USA goalie Robert Esche embraces Philly's edgy reputation. Still, he took the opportunity before last season to consult a West Point sports psychologist who has counseled, among others, Olympians and combat soldiers.

A season's worth of sessions helped Esche to redefine himself and lead the Flyers to within a victory of the Stanley Cup finals this past season. That playoff debut earned Esche a job with the United States in the World Cup, where he has lost two starts despite stopping 77 of 82 shots for a sterling save average of .935.

But no amount of self-assurance from a shrink could satisfy the straight-talking Esche, whose status for Tuesday night's quarterfinal against Russia at the Xcel Energy Center remains a mystery.

"Right now, I'm 0-2. To me that's unacceptable," Esche said Sunday after practice. "Whether you stop 45 shots or 17, your job is to win, not just to do your job. I think that's why a lot of goalies end up coming in and out of this league."

Esche then tossed this "bouquet" to Canada goalie Roberto Luongo, who was a Vezina Trophy finalist with the lowly Florida Panthers last season.

"You can talk about Roberto Luongo — 'the kid's awesome, but he's on a (bad) team,' " Esche said. "The bottom line is the kid doesn't win. In this league, they don't care what you do, what you say or how your work, as long as you win."

That rant almost sounded like a back-door endorsement for Rick DiPietro to start against Russia.

Coach Ron Wilson has told his goaltenders who will start, although neither he nor Esche would disclose the decision.

Esche was brilliant despite his team's overwhelmingly flat performances last week in losses to Canada and Russia. DiPietro stopped 17 of 18 shots on Friday to backstop the United States to its lone victory, over Slovakia. Ty Conklin has yet to play in the tournament.

Conventional wisdom points to the rested Esche, who won the No. 1 job out of training camp. But Wilson might be loath to tinker with a lineup that produced Team USA's most inspired effort to date.

"He knows what he's going to do, and we know what he's going to do," Esche said. "That's up to him as to how he's going to handle it."

GOALIE PARADE

Overanalyzing the goaltending situation is a way of life in Philadelphia, where the Flyers have watched a list of netminders either burn out or be run out of town for playoff failures.

Garth Snow. Brian Boucher. Roman Cechmanek. Even Hextall, the most valuable player in the 1987 playoffs, choked and burned 10 years later in the finals against Detroit during a return engagement with the team.

Esche, 26, came to Philadelphia two years ago in a trade that sent Boucher to Phoenix. He began last season sharing duties with Jeff Hackett and eventually won the No. 1 job before being sidelined by a hip injury.

The Flyers obtained 16-year veteran Sean Burke to ensure against another collapse. But coach Ken Hitchcock selected Esche his starter against New Jersey in the first round of the playoffs. Esche wound up starting all 18 games for the Flyers, who lost in the Eastern Conference finals to the eventual champion Tampa Bay Lightning.

It rang hollow, though, like Esche's experiences thus far in the World Cup.

"Yeah, we made it to Game 7, and it was a great run," he said. "But at the end of the day, we still lost, which I wouldn't count as a successful postseason."

On May 31, Esche had surgery on his left hip to repair torn ligaments, an injury that jeopardized his status for the World Cup. He intensified his rehabilitation to make it to camp. Team USA goalie coach Keith Allain said Esche's positioning and range have been unaffected by the surgery.

He stayed off the ice Friday and receives daily treatments to manage the pain. Wilson said Esche has played to his expectations.

"The only surprise would be that he's bounced back from the type of injury he had as quickly as he has," Wilson said.

A TOUGH HIDE

Esche is not finished convincing the hockey world that he can win big games, something he did to many skeptics who had questioned his inexperience during the run-up to the playoffs.

"Whether it's a commentator, GM or a coach, someone who's voiced opinions about you," Esche said, "it feels good to do something to shut their mouth because, obviously, they don't know what they're talking about."

He credits sessions with "Dr. Z," Nathaniel Zinsser, with helping him stop manufacturing intensity in the dressing room to convince teammates he means business when his feistiness on the ice should suffice.

A more relaxed Esche survived his first season in Philadelphia. For now, fans have shelved the lynching torches, perhaps a bigger moral victory for Esche than series victories over the hated Devils and Toronto Maple Leafs.

"It's a very competitive city," Esche said. "They expect to win. For somebody like me, who has the same personality as the city, it works out fine.

"A lot of people can't deal with that. They don't have the thick skin. In Philadelphia, you don't have a choice. You have to be that way."

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Brian Murphy covers the Wild and the NHL. He can be reached at brianmurphy@pioneerpress.com.