A Lonely Island

The trade deadline acquisition of Martin Biron from the Buffalo Sabres last Tuesday might have signaled the end of the tenure for one of the most competitive but congenial players ever to set foot in the Flyers’ locker room.

Robert Esche isn’t playing.

He hasn’t started a game since February 22nd in Buffalo, when he was pulled after giving up four goals in 22 minutes during a 6-3 loss. He hasn’t completed a game since a 4-3 overtime loss at the Wachovia Center January 30th against Tampa Bay. He hasn’t won a game since January 2nd, picking up the victory by stopping 40 shots in a 3-2 Philly win over the Islanders in New York. His record at the moment: 5-9-2. Even more glaring, his alternate stats: .872 save percentage, and a garish 4.32 goals-against average.

But Robert Esche hasn’t left either.

Although sources have told several Philadelphia-area publications that he was the subject of trade talks at the start of the calendar year, and that by the end of January his locker at the Flyers Skate Zone in Voorhees was conspicuously less cluttered, Esche remains a part of the team.

As the deadline neared, there was talk in some quarters that Esche could be headed to Los Angeles, a team stocked with a glut of young and speedy talent. It didn’t hurt that the Kings’ president and general manager is Dean Lombardi, a former Flyers employee, and the assistant general manager is Ron Hextall. Adding more speculation to those rumors was LA’s waiver acquisition of Sean Burke, arriving in Southern California from Springfield of the AHL in late January. Burke mentored Esche when the young goaltender came up to the Phoenix Coyotes in 1999-2000, and that relationship continued off the ice and had grown since then. Esche has many times cited Burke’s addition to the Flyers roster in 2004 as a huge motivating factor in his success that Spring.

However, keeping Esche in hockey’s equivalent of the Phantom Zone after not dealing him for any value before the deadline passed complicates the Flyers goaltending situation.

Biron, an unrestricted free-agent after this season, wanted out of Buffalo in the worst way after Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff decided to give the starting job to Ryan Miller. Judging from interviews he conducted with American and Canadian press in the days leading up to last Tuesday, it seemed the 29-year-old didn’t care where he was dealt, as long as he got a chance to prove himself worthy. Now that he’s with the Flyers but still able to walk away to another team come summertime (as when Ed Belfour auditioned for other clubs at the tail end of the 1996-97 season in San Jose after Chicago dealt him away) for a bigger, better deal, the fact that Esche will also be unrestricted may create a deep crater around the crease in need of immediate filling.

Given that neither of the current Phantoms goaltenders are ready for prime time, and that the organization’s recent free-agent selections have read like a list of shell-shocked veterans on a final tour of duty, it would have clearly been more beneficial to the team to trade Esche for a jersey filler or more draft picks/prospects. Therefore, the man dubbed “Chico” would have been given a chance to start fresh somewhere else without having to spend so much time in limbo, and that acquired value could be used to attract another goaltender. Also, any deal along those lines would have been beneficial to Antero Niittymaki, giving him positive reinforcement that he has a long future with the club.

However, the fact that no deal occured opens things up to a great deal of uncertainty. If Biron chooses to stay, and is able to work out a deal, he’s a clear number one with Niittymaki as the capable back-up. Esche would then have a definite answer that his future is not in Philadelphia, and everyone gets on with their lives. On the other hand, if Biron chooses to walk, it is unclear if the Flyers could work fast enough to sign Esche before he draws better, more lucrative interest from other clubs.

For now, though, it’s hard to imagine the country music loving firebrand being anything close to pleased with his professional life. Despite a marriage and stable home with two kids, in the space of three calendar years he has slipped precipitously from postseason hero to pariah. Hopefully he’s putting extra effort into that great golf tournament he hosts each July just outside of his hometown of Utica, New York in his spare time when he’s not, of course, keeping himself sharp for a potential showcase start towards the end of the regular season.

Hall-of-Famer and Philadelphia legend Bernie Parent famously stated that a goalie stands on a very lonely island. As tough as it may be to stand and face 40 shots a game and the camera lights afterward, it’s worse for someone as battle-ready as Esche to be denied the chance to do so, and suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune while waiting.