Shelley Proving to be an ASSet

When the Flyers announced the signing of Jody Shelley back in July, it was basically a forgone conclusion that Shelley was to be the new tough guy on the Flyers. The new Donald Brashear. A Riley Cote who actually wins fights.

Well at $1.1 million for three years, Shelley better be beating the opposition senseless and taking out the other team's most important players or at least keep them off the ice when he's on it.

But that's not exactly what has happened so far this season. Ever heard of Deryk Engelland? Unless you're a serious Penguins fan I doubt it and even if you have, I doubt you consider him a legitimate fighter. Well take a look at what he did to our dear Jody Shelley last Friday in Pittsburgh.

According to the preeminent NHL fighter's dreamland, HockeyFights.com, 97.2% of people said that Engelland, won the fight. And after watching that beat down, it's impossible to disagree.

Once again, Jody Shelly is making $1.1 million per year to "bring his talents to South Philly." He's making more than Sean O'Donnell ($1 million), Brian Boucher ($925,000), Oskars Bartulis ($600,000), Sergei Bobrovsky ($900,000), Blair Betts ($700,000), Darroll Powe ($725,000), Andreas Nodl ($735,000), and here's where it gets interesting...James van Riemsdyk ($875,000), Dan Carcillo ($1.075 million), Ville Leino ($825,000) and Claude Giroux ($765,000).

Jody Shelley is making more bank than the Flyers' leading scorer (Giroux) and second leading scorer (Leino), cashing more checks than a quarter of the Flyers' blue line and seeing more bills than both the Flyers' netminders.

The NHL's leading bruisers with at least four fights on the season are Zenon Konopka ($600,000), Tim Jackman ($550,000), Mike Brown ($575,000), Brandon Purst ($800,000), Deryk Engelland ($500,000) and Ryan Clowe ($3.5 million).

Aside from Clowe who actually scores on occasion and averages 16:42 ice time per game, none of these so-called enforcers have a cap hit of more than $800,000/year. Most teams realize a fighter shouldn't be making more than a million per.

Shelley averages 5:01 time on ice per game. That means if you assume that Shelley plays every game from now until the rest of the season, and put his salary at a per game level, Shelley makes around $2,683 every minute he's on the ice getting his face pummeled. Compare that to Matt Carle who, if you did the same calculation with his 20:02 TOI, makes $2,096 per minute on ice. Shelley makes more per minute for his services on the ice than does a guy on the Flyers' top defensive line.

“I think our fans are going to take to Jody Shelley just the way they took to Dan Carcillo,” Paul Holmgren said after the Flyers signed him in July.

"We feel we got a guy who can play a role for our team we haven’t had in quite some time and play a third or fourth line, he’s a bigger body, and I’m talking about Jody Shelley, so I’m very happy with what we did today."

Dan Carcillo has the ability to score, Shelley does not. Dan Carcillo has the ability to win fights, Shelley just got his face wrecked by Deryk Engelland.


Take it as you will, but the signing of Jody Shelley is the worst signing in recent Flyers history. Especially when he keeps better players off the team with his enormous cap hit.

Wiz Wit Jason, Joe & Porter -- October 31st

Click on the title link above to listen to the October 31st broadcast of Wiz Wit Jason, Joe & Porter.

The Return

Back from the hiatus of the most disappointing playoff run in Phillies and possibly Philadelphia postseason history. I was enthralled with Phillies all summer, they consumed my life.

And now it's all over.

Back to reality. Back to Silly Ville, broken sticks and stolen pucks. Back to the Flyers.

With the Flyers sitting at 3-3-1 through the first seven games, the perfect word to describe their season so far is probably..."ehh."

There's no reason to panic so far and there's little reason to be overly excited. Here's a little plus/minus of how I rank the Flyers season so far.

Oct. 7 Flyers 3 @ Penguins 2 --> +2
Oct. 9 Flyers 1 @ Blues 2 --> E
Oct. 11 Avalanche 2 @ Flyers 4 --> +1
Oct. 14 Lightning 3 @ Flyers 2 --> -2
Oct. 16 Penguins 5 @ Flyers 1 --> -3
Oct. 21 Ducks 3 @ Flyers 2 --> -1
Oct. 23 Maple Leafs 2 @ Flyers 5 --> +2

So far on the season the Flyers are a -1, which is kind of a disappointment since they had a five-game homestand and only went 2-3-0 over that span.

Much of the Flyers' early season struggles can be pinned on their lack of production on the power play. The Flyers are 24th in the league with the man-advantage, sitting at 9.1%. A number like that is obviously not going to cut it in this league, and with the talent of this team, it's sure to increase.

But how to make that abysmal number go up? Early on in the season coach Peter Laviolette has been trying a number of different players on the power play. He's trying to find the best groups of players on the PP, and I guess there wasn't enough time in the preseason to work that out so he's still doing it seven games into the season. But once he finds that group who gels together the best, the man-advantage will start clicking on all cylinders. It's only a matter of time.

Wiz Wit Jason, Joe & Porter -- October 24th

Click on the title link above to listen to the October 24th broadcast of Wiz Wit Jason, Joe & Porter.

Final Postseason Predictions

Eastern Conference

#1 x - Washington Capitals

#2 x - Pittsburgh Penguins

#3 Philadelphia Flyers

#4 x - Buffalo Sabres

#5 New Jersey Devils

#6 Boston Bruins

#7 Tampa Bay Lightning

#8 Montreal Canadiens           

#9 Toronto Maple Leafs

#10 New York Rangers

#11 Atlanta Thrashers

#12 Carolina Hurricanes

#13 Ottawa Senators

#14 Florida Panthers

#15 New York Islanders

Western Conference

#1 x - Vancouver Canucks

#2 x - San Jose Sharks

#3 x- Detroit Red Wings 

#4 Los Angeles Kings

#5 St. Louis Blues

#6 Chicago Blackhawks

#7 Nashville Predators

#8 Calgary Flames                     

#9 Colorado Avalanche

#10 Phoenix Coyotes

#11 Minnesota Wild

#12 Anaheim Ducks

#13 Columbus Blue Jackets

#14 Dallas Stars

#15 Edmonton Oilers

x - Division winner
These are the rankings of the conference teams from first to worst. The division winners are automatically No.'s one, two and three in the conference come playoff time.
  
Stanley Cup Prediction:
Philadelphia Flyers over Vancouver Canucks

Atlantic Division Predictions

New Jersey Devils

The Good: Somehow Martin Brodeur can still make saves even after drinking his doctor recommended amount of prune juice.
The Bad: Kovalchuk hasn't yet learned the word "pass" in English.
Look for: The Devils only dressing 11 men on offense

New York Islanders

The Good: They still have the "God among men" Jon Sim.
The Bad: Sill the worst team in the Atlantic Division
Look for: Rick DePietro's over/under of games played this season...5.

New York Rangers

The Good: Lost out on a playoff spot by one point last season and got better over the offseason, bodes well for the Rags.
The Bad: Probably the most average team in the league, and average teams generally don't make the postseason.
Look for: Martin Biron's eyes, because they'll be looking for you.

Philadelphia Flyers

The Good: Danny Briere and Claude Giroux both poised for breakout seasons with Philadelphia.
The Bad: Jeff Carter shoots whenever he feels like it and Mike Richards is fat.
Look for: Ville Leino to become a household name

Pittsburgh Penguins

The Good: Still have two of the best in the league--Crosby and Malkin.
The Bad: Lost some serious leadership and experience in Guerin and Fedotenko
Look for: Aaron Asham and Matt Cooke to have the first ever teammate-on-teammate on-ice fight.


Prediction:
#1 Pittsburgh Penguins
#2 Philadelphia Flyers
#3 New Jersey Devils
#4 New York Rangers
#5 New York Islanders

Central Division Predictions

Chicago Blackhawks
The Good: See: 2009/10 season.
The Bad: See: 2010/11 season.
Look for: Every 12-year-old to play with them in NHL11


 

Columbus Blue Jackets

The Good: They still have Rick Nash.
The Bad: The only BJs most men will use the word "terrible" to describe.
Look for: The rumors of the Jackets leaving Columbus to intensify

Detroit Red Wings

The Good: A guarantee they'll be in the top-5 of the Western Conference, no matter who they have on the ice.
The Bad: Nicklas Lindstrom won't be great forever. Right?
Look for: The Wings to regain their position atop the Central Division.

Nashville Predators

The Good: Have one of the best defensemen in the league with the best shot in all of hockey--Shea Weber.
The Bad: Nashville has one of the most exciting teams in the NHL to watch, yet no one in Nashville watches.
Look for: The Preds to miss Jason Arnott more than they thought they would.

St. Louis Blues

The Good: Jaroslav Halak will  make an already good Blues team even better.
The Bad: Tough to find something except for they're in a very tough Western Conference division.
Look for: Hockey's triumphant return to the Gateway to the West.







Prediction:
#1 Detroit Red Wings
#2 St. Louis Blues
#3 Chicago Blackhawks
#4 Nashville Predators
#5 Columbus Blue Jackets

Northeast Division Predictions

Boston Bruins

The Good: Second overall pick in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft Tyler Seguin. 108 goals in 175 games in the OHL and GTHL. Yea, this guy's pretty good.
The Bad: Now they know what the Yankees felt like. Remember the timeout.
Look for: "All senior citizens should have Life Alert." A message from Mark Recchi.

Buffalo Sabres

The Good: They still have Jesus Christ reincarnate Ryan Miller in net.
The Bad: Sadly, you need to score more than zero goals to win a hockey game, even with Miller on your team.
Look for: One of the Sabres top six forwards to be on LTIR by the end of the month.

Montreal Canadiens

The Good: Last postseason was no fluke. Good thing they had Halak in net though.
The Bad: Wait, they traded Halak to St Louis? The Price is wrong, Bobby!
Look for: The Habs faithful to get frustrated with newly-named captain Brian Gionta before the end of the calendar year.

Ottawa Senators

The Good: Jason Spezza is still on the team. And I guess now so is Carrie Underwood.
The Bad: Sergei Gonchar no longer gives a shit.
Look for: The Sens to see what's lurking in the Northeast Division's cellar.

Toronto Maple Leafs

The Good: Dion Phaneuf will make other players's mommys cry.
The Bad: The Leafs power play will make Toronto fans cry.
Look for: The Leafs to maybe, possibly, perhaps return to the playoffs for the first time since before the lockout.





Prediction:
#1 Buffalo Sabres
#2 Boston Bruins
#3 Montreal Canadiens
#4 Toronto Maple Leafs
#5 Ottawa Senators

Pacific Division Predictions

Anaheim Ducks

The Good: Adam Banks's wrist is feeling much, much better.
The Bad: Russ Tyler isn't hanging out in the LA projects for the Ducks to sign.
Look for: Some key saves at huge moments from Goldberg, but if he slips, Julie "The Cat" Gaffney is waiting in the wings

Dallas Stars

The Good: I'm thinking, I'm thinking. Just give me a minute...
The Bad: Could be their worst season since moving to Dallas
Look for: Mike Modano to finish his career as a Sta...nevermind.

Los Angeles Kings

The Good: Have one of, if not the best young defensemen in the league--Drew Doughty
The Bad: Missed out on the Ilya Kovalchuk and Simon Gagne sweepstakes and traded the great Randy Jones. Big Mistake. HUGE.
Look for: Terry Murray to lead the Kings into the playoffs in consecutive seasons for the first time since 2002.

Phoenix Coyotes

The Good: The Yotes are in Phoenix for at least another year! Hooray!
The Bad: Last year may have been a fluke.
Look for: Ilya Bryzgalov to compete once again for the Vezina Trophy

San Jose Sharks

The Good: Will probably be first in the West once again
The Bad: Still don't have what it takes to win a Stanley Cup
Look for: The Sharks to say, "Shoot. Evgeni Nabokov was pretty darn good. And wow, Antti Neimi sucks."







Prediction:
#1 San Jose Sharks
#2 Los Angeles Kings
#3 Phoenix Coyotes
#4 Anaheim Ducks
#5 Dallas Stars

Southeast Division Predictions

Atlanta Thrashers

The Good: Just five points shy of a playoff spot last season.
The Bad: They may have more fans in their arena than the Atlanta Braves did.
Look for: Dustin Byfuglien to realize he's not a very good offenseman (or defenseman. Whatever he's listed as)

 

Carolina Hurricanes

The Good: 18-year-old Jeff Skinner scored 50 goals with the Kitchener Rangers last season (Mike Richards career high with Kitchener? 36 goals).
The Bad: Rod Brind'Amour is no longer in Raleigh to spread l'amour.
Look for: Rex Ryan to keep his Flyers jersey on this time

Florida Panthers 

The Good: David Booth is still alive.
The Bad: They're the second best NHL team in Florida. Why Florida has two NHL teams is unanswerable.
Look for: Great giveaways! Free beer for underage kids and every fan in the stands gets a game-used jersey from that night's game

Tampa Bay Lightning

The Good: They got rid of two defenders in Andrej Meszaros and Matt Walker and got proven-scorer Simon Gagne.
The Bad: They're the best team in Florida...in FLORIDA.
Look for: A great offense with Gagne, Lecavalier, St. Louis, Stamkos and dare I say it Steve Downie, but very little skill defensively.

Washington Capitals

The Good: They get to play in the Southeast division.
The Bad: Still not built to win in the playoffs.
Look for: Alex Ovechkin's Russian profanity in "24/7 Penguins/Capitals"





Prediction:
#1 Washington Capitals
#2 Tampa Bay Lightning
#3 Atlanta Thrashers
#4 Carolina Hurricanes
#5 Florida Panthers