Yeah, good clairifcation. I edited the phrasing a little bit to avoid any confusion.

While Travis said this essentially was Nodl’s last chance, I’m wondering if what MarioD suggested before could become the case: Nodl is not at all who we thought he was, but he can be an effective 4th-liner who works on the PK. He certainly showed an ability to do that this year, so maybe instead of being a top-6 like was projected, he’s now shown a niche that could at least get him an NHL job somewhere.

Either way, I really hope the club has come to the conclusion that he isn’t the best player to call up, but rather someone who can fill a specific role if needed. Next time the team needs a scorer, Maroon or Legein should get the call. Next time they need a penalty killer, Nodl gets the call.

i had a shoulder injury that was similar, it seems, so i’ll relate what happened in my case. in open hockey one night, i was hit from behind near the boards by a friend jokingly when i caught an edge. my helmet didn’t catch square so my head was turned to the side and my shoulder caught the majority of the impact dislocating it. for the next few months, seemingly insignificant things would cause my shoulder to briefly dislocate. trying to set a volleyball, opening a door, etc. had it been more severe, it could have required surgery, however physical therapy was the option in my case. the doctor said the tendons and ligaments are stretched during that sort of injury, causing the shoulder to be become dislocated more easily until strength is built up again.

its about 15 years later now and certain positions still cause my shoulder to feel as though it could dislocate, but it hasn’t happened in some time. i am still conscious of the potential for reinjury, but i wouldn’t necessarily shy away from hockey because of it, though in my case, a previous injury to my collarbone affects my shoulder. when it reoccurs many times in a short span, it is something that is going to weigh on your mind. i didn’t have pain, so i didn’t particularly feel ‘injured’. had someone asked me about it at the time, i’d have likely given a similar answer to betts (assuming his injury was identical to mine, which may not entirely be the case).

Certainly an interesting player, wonder why he can’t find success. When he was #14 and was getting ice time early last season, I used to pull hard for him to get one in the net. He worked hard, was an impressive skater with size and seemed to love the forecheck. It took awhile but he finally got a tally or two.

He’s got the tools and talent, I think. He seems to lack patience with the puck and I believe that’s his weakest point. He’ll work pretty hard (I mean that guy is quick for his size), end up with the puck but will never take a look to set up a play or simply protect the puck to let the play come to him.