page_title: Ilya Bryzgalov
section_title: Early years and Anaheim tenure
hierarchical_section_title: Ilya Bryzgalov / Playing career / Early years and Anaheim tenure
caption_attribution_description: Ice hockey - The puck bulges the top of the net for a goal as the goaltender was unable to block the shot in an American Hockey League game English: The puck bulges the top of the net for a goal as the goaltender was unable to block the shot Español: Anotación de un gol Italiano: Il "Goaltender" dell'hockey su ghiaccio
context_page_description: Ilya Nikolayevich Bryzgalov is a Russian former professional ice hockey goaltender who played in the National Hockey League for the Anaheim Ducks, Phoenix Coyotes, Philadelphia Flyers, Edmonton Oilers and Minnesota Wild. He was drafted by Anaheim in the second round of the 2000 NHL Entry Draft, 44th overall.
  In 2006–07, Bryzgalov won the Stanley Cup with the Anaheim Ducks. Internationally, he has earned a bronze medal with Russia at the 2002 Winter Olympics, and a silver medal at the 2000 World Junior Championships. Bryzgalov also competed in the 2004 World Cup of Hockey and is a three-time Olympian. As the starting goaltender, he helped Russia win back-to-back gold medals at the 2009 World Ice Hockey Championships, making them ranked number one in the world. He was also runner-up for the Vezina Trophy and a top-five finalist for the Hart Memorial Trophy in the 2009–10 season.
context_section_description: Bryzgalov started his professional career in his native Russia, splitting the 1999–2000 season between Spartak Moscow of the Russian Supreme League (RSL-2) and Lada Togliatti of the Russian Superleague (RSL). Bryzgalov played two seasons with Lada Togliatti before joining the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, who had drafted him in the second round, 44th overall, in the 2000 NHL Entry Draft.
  However, with Jean-Sébastien Giguère and Martin Gerber ahead of him in the club's depth chart, Bryzgalov spent the better part of his first four seasons in North America with the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks of the American Hockey League (AHL). He made his Mighty Ducks debut in 2001–02, playing in his first of two games during that four-season stretch.
  With the departure of backup Gerber, Bryzgalov took over behind Giguère in 2005–06 season. However, injuries to the Ducks starter allowed Bryzgalov to play more games than he otherwise would have and he responded to the challenge with a 13–12–1 record with a 2.51 goals against average (GAA) and .910 save percentage. In the subsequent playoffs, Bryzgalov made three starts and one relief appearance for the Ducks in their first-round series against the Calgary Flames. In Game 1, he filled-in for an injured Giguère, taking a 2–1 overtime loss. He relieved Giguère once more in Game 5 and stopped all 19 shots he faced in a 3–2 loss. He then took over the starting job for Games 6 and 7 of the series, winning 2–1 in Game 6 and recording a shutout in the decisive Game 7. Moving past the Flames, Bryzgalov then recorded 5–0 and 3–0 shutouts in the first two games of the second series against the Colorado Avalanche for three consecutive shutouts. He tied Frank McCool's 1945 playoff record for most consecutive shutouts by a rookie and passed Giguère, who had recorded consecutive shutouts in 2003 for the third-longest playoff shutout streak of all time. Despite his success in the first two rounds, Bryzgalov struggled in the semifinals against the Edmonton Oilers and was eventually replaced by Giguère for the rest of the series as the Ducks were eliminated in five games.
  Bryzgalov continued to play backup to Giguère the following season and into the 2007 playoffs. Bryzgalov made comments regarding Ducks head coach Randy Carlyle, saying he believed Carlyle had no confidence in him. However, he briefly took over as the starter for the first four games of the Western Conference Quarterfinals, winning three games as Giguère took a leave of absence with personal issues. Bryzgalov came in for relief in the Western Conference finals against the Detroit Red Wings, but remained on the bench as the Ducks went on to defeat the Ottawa Senators in the Finals in five games to win the franchise's, and Bryzgalov's, first Stanley Cup.
caption: Bryzgalov playing for the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks.
exif: {"Image Software": "Picasa", "Image ExifOffset": "46", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "282", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "7294", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "3000", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "2000", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "158", "EXIF ImageUniqueID": "14cfe626d65dbcf80000000000000000"}