Assuming Carter AND Nodl Are Out, What Do We Do?
We went into last night with 4 lines with pretty defined roles:
Hartnell-Briere-Leino: Score
JVR-Giroux-Carter: Dominate?
Steeg-Richie-Z: Fend off Vanek, create offense IF POSSIBLE
Carcillo-Powe-Betts: Dominate in own zone and physicality
Without Jeff Carter, if we had Andreas Nodl, this would be an easy problem to solve:
HBL: No change
Carcillo/Nodl-Powe-Betts: No major change
JVR-Giroux-Zherdev: Same role, same skill level---more offensively oriented
Steeg-Richie-Carcillo/Nodl: Same
Here lies the problem. If Carter and Nodl are both unable to go, what do we do? Who is waiting in the wings and what are our options.
Problem 1: Who is the 9th of the top 9 forwards? This problem has two answers. It is either (and highly favored) Dan Carcillo or an AHL player. Our top 8 is set: C: Briere/Giroux/Richie. Briere gets Harts and Leino. Giroux gets Z and JVR and Richie gets Steeg. That leaves one more guy. It makes sense to have Carcillo be the guy on that line because they have done it before. Carcillo scored with (I think) Richie and Steeg on the ice in game 2. This is the most likely solution, but could we go with...
Ben Holmstrum: Phantoms MVP award. Has played up before. 38 points this year. Played in every scenario for them, but not a top 9 guy for the Flyers right now.
Mike Testwuide: He is the only guy who has a shot---a small one--- at being a top 9 forward not named Carcillo. If we go with Testwuide that means two things: 1. WTF? 2. We are sacrificing defense for a scorer who's never scored before. I
It's safe to say, IMHO, that Carcillo will be the other top 9.
Problem 2: Betts-Powe and who.
Option 1: If he's healthy, Jody Shelley. I'm not explaining anything else about him, because I don't want the drama, we've had it all year. If Laviolette wants to really intensify the physicality by going with a guy who will get no 3rd period ice time in the third period, he'll go with Shelley. If he wants familiarity, he'll go with Shelley. That is the main argument. Familiarity. Calming. They did it with Boosh, maybe they'll do it with Shelley.
Option 2: Eric Wellwood. He was a good call up for the 3 games earlier in the year. 28 points in 73 games, so he has a little bit of developing offensive skill. I think that Wellwood is a long shot.
(Most Likely) Option 3: Ben Holmstrum: Phantoms MVP. Plays PP, PK and ES for them. 38 points in 79 games. I don't want to look at his 3 game sample size, because lets be honest, it means nothing. He was the most recent call up and he plays with fire. He got trampled to one of the better middle weights in the league in Chris Neil last game, which can do wonders for shaking off the intimidation factor that the NHL has.
(Wild Card) Option 4: Erik Gustafsson: What? Well, we've done it before. Luca Sbisa was a defender for the Flyers, called up at the end to play 4th line forward. With our top pairings playing tons of minutes, yet again, would it be horrible to try out a 7th defender. Carcilllo will take 4th line shifts by the end of the game, as his spot will be taken by more potent scorers if we are down. I don't see Holmstrum or Wellwood getting near 10 minutes, so this could be a viable option.***If pronger comes back this changes to Syvret.
None of these guys have playoff experience (Shelley has 7 games) and none other than Shelley have 5 games in the NHL. Playoff hockey is a different animal. I think they go Holmstrum, but I'd go Gusty. Don't know why, just a good feeling about taking 1-2 minutes away from the big guys.
This item was written by a member of this community and is not necessarily endorsed by Broad Street Hockey.
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That is 100% false. People have seen him walking w out crutches. If it were acl his season would b over and wed have nothing to hide
by OrangeNblacK on Apr 21, 2011 6:07 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
Where did u hear that though, it seems like an outrageous claim
by OrangeNblacK on Apr 21, 2011 6:09 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
Me too. Let’s hope. I see him back gm 4 next series.
by OrangeNblacK on Apr 21, 2011 6:21 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
I’m sure I’ll get slammed for this but if there ever was a time to play Shelley its now. As well as the Flyers have played, it almost seems like Buffalo is pushing them around a bit and that should never be the case with a Flyers team. Kaleta is taking runs at whoever he wants with no fear of retribution. I full heartedly expect the return of Captain Elbows to help in that regard but nonetheless…It wouldn’t hurt to have an enforcer out there.
The main reason I’m in favor of playing Shelley is because the drop off between him any any of the AHL guys isn’t huge at all. Shelley however brings a physical presence that the other three cannot. I know the “toughness/grit” school of thought is frequently ridiculed on here (with good reason) but with all the dirtiness going on in this series its worth giving him a shot. The difference between winning and losing has nothing to do with Jody Shelley, but if he punches Kaleta in the face and keeps him away from our star players, he’s made an impact on the game.
I like him for hard work that’s what it comes down to. Our record w him >>>> wout him
by OrangeNblacK on Apr 21, 2011 6:29 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
Shelley, on and off the ice
I feel like a broken record after my post about Pronger’s likely return to and Carter’s absence from, but I am a fan of the veteran presence.
Familiarity. Calming. They did it with Boosh, maybe they’ll do it with Shelley.
I totally agree with this, we picked up Shelley for a reason (besides the insurance that he wouldn’t burn us for two goals at the end of the season), and his time is now to show why we did. This is coming from a guy who was infuriated with his contract over the entire off season, but have really come around to enjoy having him in the line up for his…dare I say ‘heart’? As much as people have been raggin’ on this aspect, it really can make a difference in a game, and Jody Shelley is all heart, there, I said it
Plus, come on, how can you not love the guy?

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