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A Defence That Will Break Down
by PuckStopsHere on 10/15/09 at 10:37 AM ET
Comments (5)
Early in the season, it is interesting to watch the number of shifts and playing time of players on various teams. When a team is overplaying a handful of key players early in the season, it is quite likely that these players will fatigue and break down over the course of the year. This is a cause of concern. The team with the largest area of concern in this area is the Philadelphia Flyers defence. The three leading players in shifts per game, at this point in the season, are Braydon Coburn, Kimmo Timonen and Chris Pronger. They have 35.4, 34.4 and 33.6 shifts per game played respectively. Pronger tends to play longer shifts - so he is their icetime leader despite fewer shifts.
This is a situation that will likely not be able to be kept up all season. These players will break down from overwork. This becomes even more likely when one considers that Pronger is 35 years old and Timonen is 34. Both are on the downsides of their careers where injuries become more likely.
The Philadelphia Flyers only other proven defenceman is Matt Carle, who is off to a good start offensively, but is not able to handle the hard defensive situations as much as these three. They would be forced to give people like Ryan Parent, Danny Syvret and Ole-Kristian Tollefsen more ice time than they would be comfortable with and forced to play Carle is tougher defensive situations if injuries occur. These injuries look quite likely given the ages and amount of work given to the Flyers top defencemen. This is a situation to watch. It is one that could lead to serious problems for the Philadelphia Flyers in a month or two.
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Tags: Braydon+Coburn, Chris+Pronger, Kimmo+Timonen, Philadelphia+Flyers,
Comments
And one more thing. Who gives a f’ck about shifts per game. Do you know anything about hockey or do you just pick a stat that isn’t used often (because it is meaningless), and make shit up from that. Clearly it is the latter.
The only thing that is going to break down is Crosby’s face from Sasquatch’s elbows.
Posted by moore00 from Columbus, OH/Grand Rapids, MI on 10/15/09 at 04:05 PM ET
Lidstrom never had a season where he played as many shifts in a game as any of these three have been playing so far this year. For example last year he was 25th in the league with 28.8 shifts per game and the year before he was 18th with 29.2 shifts per game. Nevertheless he is showing signs of breaking down. Last year he fought through several injuries in the regular season, most seriously tendonitis in his wrist that kept him out of the all star game.
In general, players who play the most ice time get tired and get hurt as the season progresses. They don’t keep up as high a level of play as they might have if they had more rest. If an exception ever exists it is in the case of truly exceptional once in a lifetime superstars and generally only when they are young. Chris Pronger arguably had that talent, but he is 35 now and those days are passed. Kimmo Timonen is also aging and was never on that level. Braydon Coburn is young and is not on that level now and likely never will be.
If we look at last season, the three leaders in shifts per game were: Paul Ranger who played 42 games for Tampa, Andrej Meszaros who played 52 games in Tampa and Kim Johnsson who played 81 games in Minnesota. All were part of teams that failed to make playoffs. Two of three were players who missed significant time due to injury. The third (Johnsson) was hardly a standout last season.
Philadelphia has the three players who have taken the most shifts this season on their defence. Two are in their mid-30s. It is almost a certainty that this overplay will lead to injuries in at least one case. It will lead to reduced effectiveness. If Philadelphia depends on these three players to succeed, they need to rest them somewhat. They cannot all be the hardest working players in the league. There will be nothing left come stretch time.
Posted by PuckStopsHere on 10/15/09 at 04:17 PM ET
Thanks for the reasoned response. Moore00, please, please disappear unless you have something constructive to contribute. Your entries are a waste of space and time.
Posted by Oduya Ordonez from Swaziland on 10/15/09 at 04:31 PM ET
Puck Stops Here makes a valid point. moore00 asks,“Do you know anything about hockey?” Pretty funny since his comment makes one wonder whether he knows anything about hockey. Grow up moore00.
Posted by Bo from FL. on 10/15/09 at 08:47 PM ET
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I hate Pronger, but another ridiculous article. Yes, Pronger is getting a lot ice time, but they will break down? Did Lidstrom break down all those years he averaged the highest in the league? No, he won motherfucking Norris trophies.
Write something that isn’t retarded. Try it.
Posted by moore00 from Columbus, OH/Grand Rapids, MI on 10/15/09 at 04:04 PM ET