Ilya Bryzgalov’s up and down career has brought him back to the team that drafted him, the Anaheim Ducks. (Debora Robinson/NHLI via Getty Images) ANAHEIM, Calif. — There was no talk this time of being “afraid of bears in the forest” or how the solar system is “so humongous big.” He did not compare a certain Canadian city to the North Pole or say that he would be drinking tea at the end of the bench during that night’s game.
The Ilya Bryzgalov we have come to know and love did speak Wednesday on a wide variety of topics that included the misconceptions of living in Russia, to how difficult it can be to find a top figure-skating coach for his daughter. But there was no punch line to his conversation.
Instead, the quirky and quotable goalie seemed subdued.
After spending the first two months of the season out of work, he said he is happy to be back playing in Anaheim, where his NHL career began and where it will likely end. He seemed at peace. As though he could be himself again and at the same time not worry about being a distraction.
“Yes, yes, yes, exactly, because this is the organization that draft me,” the 34-year-old said of signing with the Ducks. “I played here like 6 1/2 years. We won the Cup. We got so much good things to go through together. I have like lots of connections with California. Me and my wife were married here, my son was born here, we built the first house here, we won the Cup here.
“Like obviously when I got the opportunity and my agent called me and said like, ‘It’s Anaheim,’ I said that’s a great idea. It’s a great opportunity.”
With Ducks’ head coach Bruce Boudreau leaning heavily on Frederik Andersen — at one point he made 17 straight starts — Bryzgalov has only played three games since returning to Anaheim last month. But there is an opportunity for closure here.
And for a goalie whose career has been filled with ups, downs and YouTube clips, it’s a chance to leave the game on solid terms.
A backup when the Ducks won the Cup in 2007, he was a runner-up for the Vezina Trophy when playing for the Phoenix
Coyotes and helped Russia win gold at the 2009 world championship. Two years later, he signed a massive nine-year, $51-million US contract with the Philadelphia Flyers, only to be bought out after two disastrous and drama-filled years.
“Obviously, we all make some mistakes and when I look back, yeah obviously if I had opportunity I might have done some things differently,” said Bryzgalov, who will continue to be paid by the Flyers until 2027. “But I don’t regret it. I was happy and like I have one year right now with a beautiful organization where my career start. It’s a great opportunity again. It’s one more year of hockey. I’m excited.”
Last year, he spent time playing for an ECHL team in Las Vegas, with Oklahoma City in the AHL and with Edmonton and Minnesota in the NHL. When this season ended, he was unable to find work. He considered returning to Russia, but did not want to uproot his family. Instead, he spent some time away from the game until last month when Anaheim ran into injury problems and called him out of retirement.
“I was enjoying my life, to be honest,” he said. “I was not worried about hockey at that time. If something came up good, I would look at it … if it was not, I was in a great position too. I had a great career if nothing came up.
“I read lots of articles about myself in the newspapers like some journalists (said) maybe he felt bad, he got to come back. No, it was like I felt great. I was enjoying my life.”
Even though he misses his family, who remain in New Jersey, Bryzgalov is grateful to be on a winning team that has a chance to compete for a Cup.
“You know, I’m here to help the team,” he said. “If they decide to make me play in a game, I just go there and try to play well. That’s all I can do. The rest of the stuff I don’t worry about.”
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