08-11-2005, 07:05 PM
Esche lands contract with Flyers
By Craig Muder, Observer-Dispatch
WESTMORELAND, New York â It took almost 15 months, but Robert Esche finally cashed in on his tremendous 2003-04 season with the Philadelphia Flyers.
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![[Image: 2005-08-10-esche-ins.jpg]](http://images.usatoday.com/sports/hockey/_photos/2005-08-10-esche-ins.jpg)
New York State resident Robert Esche will continue to patrol the Philadelphia Flyers net for at least two seasons.By H. Rumph, Jr., AP
The Westmoreland resident agreed to a two-year contract with the Flyers on Wednesday worth a total of $2 million. The 27-year-old goalie receives a $100,000 signing bonus, $900,000 in salary for this season and $1 million in salary for the 2006-07 season. After that, Esche becomes a free agent.
"I gotta admit, there's a whole lot of difference from seeing $999,000 on a piece of paper than seeing $1 million," said Esche, who said Flyers general manager Bobby Clarke will likely officially announce the deal Thursday. "It's definitely overwhelming. The $500,000 I got two years ago was overwhelming for me."
Esche, who served as his own agent in the negotiations, waited nearly four weeks before the Flyers and he came to terms. In that time, Clarke overhauled his team's roster to get under the NHL's new $39 million salary cap.
The biggest move came Aug. 3, when the Flyers signed free agent forward Peter Forsberg. But without Esche in the fold, the Flyers had no experienced goalie.
"I wasn't surprised that it took as long as it did," said Esche, who led Philadelphia to the Eastern Conference finals in the spring of 2004 â after posting a 21-11-7 regular-season record â before the NHL lost all of last season to a labor dispute. "They had a lot of free agent stuff to deal with, and Clarkey had to deal with the free agents, the drafted players, the restricted free agents and then me. I think the whole thing got played up a little bigger than it was."
Now, Esche can concentrate on getting ready for training camp, which starts Sept. 13 at the Flyers' practice facility in Voorhees, N.J. Philadelphia opens the regular season Oct. 5 at home against the New York Rangers.
"(Clarke) did a great job of keeping the free agents they needed to and adding the right ones," Esche said. "I think we're going to be a really good team, and I'm just as excited as the fans are to get back on the ice
By Craig Muder, Observer-Dispatch
WESTMORELAND, New York â It took almost 15 months, but Robert Esche finally cashed in on his tremendous 2003-04 season with the Philadelphia Flyers.
New York State resident Robert Esche will continue to patrol the Philadelphia Flyers net for at least two seasons.By H. Rumph, Jr., APThe Westmoreland resident agreed to a two-year contract with the Flyers on Wednesday worth a total of $2 million. The 27-year-old goalie receives a $100,000 signing bonus, $900,000 in salary for this season and $1 million in salary for the 2006-07 season. After that, Esche becomes a free agent.
"I gotta admit, there's a whole lot of difference from seeing $999,000 on a piece of paper than seeing $1 million," said Esche, who said Flyers general manager Bobby Clarke will likely officially announce the deal Thursday. "It's definitely overwhelming. The $500,000 I got two years ago was overwhelming for me."
Esche, who served as his own agent in the negotiations, waited nearly four weeks before the Flyers and he came to terms. In that time, Clarke overhauled his team's roster to get under the NHL's new $39 million salary cap.
The biggest move came Aug. 3, when the Flyers signed free agent forward Peter Forsberg. But without Esche in the fold, the Flyers had no experienced goalie.
"I wasn't surprised that it took as long as it did," said Esche, who led Philadelphia to the Eastern Conference finals in the spring of 2004 â after posting a 21-11-7 regular-season record â before the NHL lost all of last season to a labor dispute. "They had a lot of free agent stuff to deal with, and Clarkey had to deal with the free agents, the drafted players, the restricted free agents and then me. I think the whole thing got played up a little bigger than it was."
Now, Esche can concentrate on getting ready for training camp, which starts Sept. 13 at the Flyers' practice facility in Voorhees, N.J. Philadelphia opens the regular season Oct. 5 at home against the New York Rangers.
"(Clarke) did a great job of keeping the free agents they needed to and adding the right ones," Esche said. "I think we're going to be a really good team, and I'm just as excited as the fans are to get back on the ice
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