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Entries with the tag: Marty+Biron
Bring Biron Back To Buffalo
by Paul on 11/05/09 at 08:20 AM ET
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from Jerry Sullivan of the Buffalo News,
A month from now, Biron could be part of a three-man goalie rotation on Long Island. Biron has been splitting the duties with Dwayne Roloson, who is in the first year of a two-year, $5 million contract.
Rick DiPietro, who signed a 15-year, $67.5 million contract three years ago, is practicing again after missing a year with a knee injury. Isles coach Scott Gordon said DiPietro has been on the ice every other day. Once DiPietro feels ready, he’ll begin working out with the team in earnest.
Isles coach Scott Gordon wouldn’t give a time table, but there’s a good chance DiPietro will return in early December. Something will have to give. Isles General Manager Garth Snow knew that when he signed Biron in late July, giving him three capable NHL goalies. The Isles will need to trade a goalie, and Biron is the obvious candidate.
It’s equally clear that the Sabres need a more reliable backup goaltender. Ryan Miller started for the 11th time in 12 games Wednesday night. Coach Lindy Ruff claims to have confidence in Patrick Lalime, but his actions suggest otherwise.
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Biron Almost Went Back To Buffalo
by Paul on 10/22/09 at 11:37 PM ET
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from John Vogl of the Buffalo News,
Biron investigated a similar option in Buffalo. Backup Patrick Lalime was coming off a down year and two offseason surgeries. Starter Ryan Miller is scheduled to play for Team USA in the Olympics. Biron saw a team that likely would give him ample starts in the crease.
“We were fairly serious,” Biron said of talks with the Sabres. “Negotiations are what they are. To be honest with you, this wasn’t about money, not anything other trying to get a fit into where I would be able to play and compete, put myself in the position where on January 1 I can look for a long-term deal with the organization that I’m with, or come July 1 next year I’m at the top level where I was last year.
“This was a very unique year just because of the Olympic year, because there’s a lot of games. I knew that a situation like Buffalo would have been a situation where I would have gotten to play some games, maybe more than usual. But at the same time, this situation [in New York] was giving me the best chance to play on a regular basis.
“I was very excited about possibly having a chance to come back, but in the end, you make sacrifices to be at the top level you can.”
Filed in: NHL Teams, Buffalo Sabres, New York Islanders | KK Hockey | Permalink
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Calling The Maven
by Paul on 07/24/09 at 04:13 PM ET
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from Stan Fischler of Game On,
It isn’t often that I get a phone call from Martin Biron.
Actually, over a half-century of covering hockey I’ve never received a buzz on the buzzer from any NHL goalie; at least not out of the blue like this one....
Biron-Roloson will open the campaign, and if I were to turn Marty’s feelings into a hit song, it would be “That’s Quite Alright With Me.”
Or, to put it directly into his final words before our conversation concluded: “I like the way the (young) Islanders are shaping up. When I was with the Flyers, the Islanders always gave us trouble; always hustled; always worked. Last year, with all their injuries and whatnot, they’d lose games by a goal. With our goaltending now, and a healthy team, we could be winning those games by a goal. This is going to be a fun season for me.”
Filed in: NHL Teams, New York Islanders | KK Hockey | Permalink
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Biron To The Islanders
by Paul on 07/22/09 at 05:30 PM ET
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from Larry Brooks of the NY Post,
The Islanders won’t be caught short again.
Ensuring stability in nets regardless of the state of Rick DiPetro’s health, the Islanders have signed free agent goaltender Martin Biron to a one-year, $1.4 million steal of a deal, The Post has learned.
added 5:50pm,
The New York Islanders today announced that they have agreed to terms on a one-year contract with goaltender, Martin Biron.
“Adding Marty gives us three bona-fide number one goalies,” said Garth Snow, General Manager, New York Islanders. “We learned about the importance of stability in our line-up from last year and he now allows us to have another quality starter.”
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Why Biron May Have To Look Outside The NHL For A Job
by Paul on 07/12/09 at 12:42 PM ET
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from Brian Costello of The Hockey News,
Did Martin Biron price himself out of a job in the NHL? Looks like it.
Eleven days into the free agent season and virtually every team has filled their starter and backup jobs for 2009-10.
So Biron may have to look for a job in Europe or the Kontinental League. Same with the other NHL proven UFA goalies Manny Fernandez, Manny Legace, Martin Gerber, Brent Johnson, Joey MacDonald, Curtis Sanford, Wade Dubielewicz and Kevin Weekes. That’s nine looking-for-work stoppers and a shrunken market.
Here are the new goaltender jobs this summer:
Boston has top prospect Tuukka Rask as backup....
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What’s Going On With Marty Biron?
by Paul on 07/09/09 at 09:42 AM ET
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from Seth Rorabaugh of Empty Netters,
We’ve hardly been kind to Martin Biron in this forum.
We’ve allowed our bitterness towards his former team wipe out any objectivity we might display in our little corner of the Internet.
But despite our bias against the Flyers, we have to admit, he’s an above average goaltender. We’ll even say he’s a good goaltender.
He’s not someone who will help you win a Stanley Cup. The past two seasons have established that. But he’s definitely good enough to get you to the playoffs and he can even win a round or two. You could do far worse than having Martin Biron in between the pipes.
That’s what makes his continued unemployment a little bit startling to us.
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Biron Hopes To Sign Soon
by Paul on 07/03/09 at 01:59 PM ET
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via Chuck Gormley of Flyer Files at the Courier-Post,
Just spoke with Marty Biron, who is on his way to Buffalo with his faily.
Biron said he is “a little surprised” he has not signed a contract with an NHL team in the first three days of the NHL signing period, but also said he has had discussions with teams and hopes to sign with one of them soon.
“I’m waiting for some options to open up,” he said.
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Goaltending Questions In Philadelphia
by Paul on 04/29/09 at 09:31 AM ET
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from Chuck Gormley of the Courier-Post,
But who will be the Flyers’ No. 1 goalie at the start of the 2009-10 regular season? Holmgren and Biron acknowledged it could be two months before that question is answered.
“I think Marty is a good goalie and I think he had a good couple years here,” Holmgren said. “If we move forward with him, that will be a decision we make in the next little while.”
At 31, Biron is coming off his second full season as the Flyers’ starter. He ranked 13th in the NHL in wins (29), 25th in goals-against average (2.76) and 17th in save percentage (.915).
But the numbers that will define whether Biron stays in Philadelphia will be his average salary and the number of years he is seeking on a new contract.
At $3.5 million, Biron ranked 19th among NHL goalies this season, just below Dwayne Roloson’s $3.667 million. Roloson, who is 39, had almost identical numbers to Biron this season with 28 wins, a 2.77 GAA and a .915 save percentage.
In other words, Biron’s market value is probably exactly what he’s making now. That could be a sticking point is his insistence on a long-term contract.
Filed in: NHL Teams, Philadelphia Flyers | KK Hockey | Permalink
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Biron On His Game
by Paul on 04/24/09 at 12:20 AM ET
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from Sam Donnellon of the Philadelphia Daily News via the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review,
Bottom line, after one period it was 0-0. And the Penguins had expended an awful lot of adrenaline. “With Marty playing like he did, he allowed us to regroup between periods,” Stevens said. “He really gave us a shot of confidence that allowed us to get back to playing.’
They go back to playing tomorrow afternoon at the Wachovia Center. They still trail in this series, but they have been the better team over the last three games. Not by much, not by more than a big save here, a hit post there. But this series is now close enough to steal, close enough that one man, one play, could ultimately decide it. That might frighten some goalies. If nothing else, Biron has proven he’s not one of them.
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Playoff Performance Of Biron Will Be Watched
by Paul on 04/05/09 at 08:42 AM ET
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from Sam Carchidi of the Philadelphia Inquirer,
Goalie Marty Biron says he wants to remain with the Flyers, but his performance down the stretch and in the playoffs probably will determine whether they want him.
A potential unrestricted free agent, Biron is in the final season of a $3.5 million contact. After an inconsistent first half, Biron steadied himself and played solidly before sluggish performances in his last four starts.
Biron, who carried the Flyers into the Eastern Conference finals last year, has a 27-17-5 record, 2.80 goals-against average, and .914 save percentage this season.
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Flyers Look To Biron For Playoff Run
by Paul on 04/03/09 at 09:24 AM ET
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from Rob Longley of the Toronto Sun,
Since Bernie Parent was minding the net during the Broad Street Bullies era of the mid-seventies, the Flyers haven’t had a sniff of the Stanley Cup and often goaltending was high on the list of explanations.
For the latest act, the team will turn to Martin Biron, who prior to 2007-08 hadn’t even started a playoff game in his nine NHL seasons.
“I’m not a person who gets extremely high or extremely low,” Biron said of the expectations that await. “I try to charge my emotion the right way. I’m not going to go out and say: ‘My confidence is sky high.’ Confidence comes with preparation: The rest falls into place.”
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Is Biron Done In Philadelphia?
by Paul on 02/05/09 at 06:27 AM ET
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from Jack McCaffery of the Delco Times,
Until there is a more fundamental reason to arm himself with padding and stand before rubber hockey bullets, Marty Biron will try to provide the Flyers with the only service a goaltender can: A last resort.
It wasn’t supposed to come to that already —- and it may not have reached that point yet. But it has been heading that way at slapshot speed for a 31-year-old goalie with dwindling chances that he will still be one of Flyers consequence come age 32.
Highly compensated now but with no contract beyond the end of this season, Biron slowly but clearly has been sliding from the Flyers’ long-term plans —- that despite his gymnastics last spring, which helped open access to the NHL’s Final Four.
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Goalies & Their Equipment
by Paul on 11/23/08 at 09:22 AM ET
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from Chuck Gormley of the Courier-Post,
Goaltenders have an unusual relationship with their equipment. Some pieces—like Biron’s skates and pants—are preserved and protected like a favorite childhood blanket. Others are changed as often as a car’s oil.
In the case of Biron, he’ll typically go through three sets of leg pads, four catching gloves, four blockers, two chest pads and two sets of arm pads in a season.
Right now, Biron is breaking in a new catching glove in practice, while in games he still uses the one that worked so well for him in the playoffs last season.
“Probably in another week or so I’ll start using it in games,” Biron said.
“In practice I love it. In a game situation, you don’t have time to think.”
The same goes for Biron’s blocker.
“My new one feels really good in practice, but if you use it in a game and misplay the puck, it’s in the net,” he said. “You need to make sure you’re really into it.”
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Biron Must Be Better
by Paul on 05/10/08 at 09:01 AM ET
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from Mike Sielski of phillyBurbs,
Maybe this is unfair to Biron, the man most responsible for the Flyers reaching this point. There isn’t a goaltender in the NHL who would be expected to stop Malkin on a 3-on-2, or on a shorthanded breakaway. Malkin’s winning and insurance goals fall on Biron’s teammates more than they fall on him. Nevertheless, it’s still the truth: Biron has to be sensational for the Flyers to beat a team with as much talent as the Penguins. He has to make the same saves that he made against the Capitals and the Canadiens. Then he has to make some more.
At a minimum, he can’t do what he did with just less than six minutes left in the first period. He can’t transform an innocent Pittsburgh dump-in into an easy goal for Crosby, can’t afford to be so cavalier at such a crucial moment
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Biron Not A Fan Of The Canadiens
by Paul on 04/30/08 at 08:08 AM ET
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from the Philadelphia Inquirer,
Nords fans still talk about the Good Friday brawl in 1984 at the Montreal Forum: fourteen fights. So many, in fact, that referee Bruce Hood lost track of who was tossed from the game and who was not.
“My parents still talk about that game,” Biron said. “How the Canadiens cheated. It runs deep. People who are Quebec fans will always be Nordiques fans. It runs deep within families. They will always have that feeling inside them.”
Biron has that feeling deep inside him as well whenever he sees that “CH” crest of the Canadiens.
“Funny, but Marty never talks about it,” said Danny Briere, admitting that he never knew his former Buffalo roommate painted his face blue and white as a child.
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Is Biron Good Enough
by Paul on 04/12/08 at 08:53 AM ET
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from Phil Sheridan of the Philadelphia Inquirer,
Ovechkin fetched the loose puck and slid it back to Green. This time, Green fired a shot over Biron’s glove hand to tie the game at 4.
It was a good shot. A shutdown goaltender - a wartime goaltender - stops it.
It isn’t time to overreact. This isn’t Roman Cechmanek wandering around while opponents fire pucks into his empty net. It was Biron’s first playoff game, and he acknowledged a case of nerves.
“There were some jitters early in the game,” Biron said. “We’ve got to get into our rhythm.”
Flyers coach John Stevens, asked merely to evaluate Biron’s play, immediately took the opportunity to mute possible criticism. He has a series here, after all.
“Obviously you have a 4-2 lead there,” Stevens said. “Guys stepped in and teed up from some difficult places to see. . . . We’re in this together here.”
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Biron Understands His Role
by Paul on 04/11/08 at 10:55 AM ET
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from Ed Moran of the Philadelphia News,
“The key is always more emphasis on the goaltender. If we believe it or not, it’s always going to be that way and goalies are always going to be at the forefront of the playoffs because it’s an important position.”
Good thing Biron knows that, because the Flyers’ playoff hopes rest on his shoulders, particularly against Washington. The best-of-seven series will open tonight at the Verizon Center.
Stacked together, the Flyers and the Capitals match up very well. Each has a crop of scoring forwards, though Washington does have Ovechkin, a player who can take over a game by himself.
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