Jody Shelley's Latest Hit Leaves Philadelphia Flyers Fans As Bemused As Ever

Jack Edwards and Andy Brickley called it perfectly.

As an English NHL fan, I don't get to watch many games and I'm always deeply skeptical when the commentators are from the other side (Penguin coverage is especially unbearable).

But you couldn't fault the Boston commentators. They were spot on.

It looked like the Flyer lost an edge, causing a nasty but unlucky collision into the end boards with McQuaid. They were right, at first glance, to give the Flyer the benefit of the doubt.

I saw a five and even thought initially that it might've been Nodl.

But replays showed otherwise, and showed Flyers "tough guy" Jody Shelley deliberately and dangerously shove a defenseless McQuaid headfirst into the boards on a delayed icing call.

This is exactly what recent rule changes have been trying to eradicate, but no one can legislate for idiots like Shelley.

He wasn't ever going to get to the puck—hell, McQuaid wasn't even going to get to the puck, as it bounced behind the other side of the net to Ference—and it's hard to argue (as he has tried to) that he wasn't intending to injure.

In fact, it's hard to imagine what Shelley was thinking on any level. Besides the cynical nature of the hit, it was potentially costly for his his team too. Such plays are never acceptable, but Laviolette must have been tearing his hair out to go a man down on a five minute major midway through the second, in what had been a finely balanced game to that point.

Taking any unnecessary penalty at such a time is dumb, let alone one so malicious and it was only the Flyers' exceptional PK (which Shelley has nothing to do with, much like the PP, or most even strength situations...), which kept them in the game.

The NHL should have thrown the book at Shelley. It would've shown that they're serious about wiping out injuries to defensemen on irresponsible icing plays.

However, as a Flyer fan, it would've also given us an excuse not to play Shelley.

When he was signed, most people thought the deal was ill-advised because he was being paid a ridiculous amount ($1.1 million a year) for minimal minutes, as a one-dimensional role player.

The move has been ill-advised, but for a subtly different reason: He is one dimensional, but this hasn't translated to small minutes.

Instead, he's been playing healthy minutes, while bringing little to the team. Six minutes into Saturday night's game the commentators noted that all 36 skaters across the two teams had already played at least a minute each, showing the faith that the coaches have in the depth of their teams.

Shelley has done nothing to justify this faith, except perhaps have a good agent, haggling for a salary which needs to be justified by playing time.

He has three points in thirty games. Line-mates Betts and Powe have nine and 10, respectively. He can't be used on the PK, because he's normally in the box or out of the game.

Clearly, he's a role player; clearly, he's meant as a pest.

But here, perhaps bizarrely, I'm going to say a word in defence of Dan Carcillo. He's not my favourite Flyer by a long shot. Bring back Asham or Laperriere any day, or just have a fourth line of Blair Betts clones. But Carcillo played well on his return to the line-up.

He laid a huge (and legal) hit on Milan Lucic in the second period. He mixed it up with Lucic again in the third. He played on the edge, but stayed on the right side of the line, something Shelley patently failed to do. Moreover, Carcillo has some actual attributes that you look for in a hockey player. He has good wheels.

He sometimes gives the impression that he might have a slight hint of offensive instinct. He can play on a line with Mike Richards without it being some sort of bad joke.

Shelley has none of these things, and earns the same salary. And more than Leino, Nodl, Powe, Betts and even Giroux this year. 

While a five minute major at 0-0 was never going to improve the Flyers chances of winning, once they survived it, I wasn't surprised when they took the lead, as Shelley wasn't eating up the minutes of the offensively gifted or the defensively proficient (or Carcillo, for that matter).

Perhaps that was his plan all along, and maybe a lengthy suspension was also part of his plan to let better players play.

And when he returns from suspension, I hope he doesn't return to the line-up.

Because embarrassing as it is to give such a liability such a large contract and then not play him, it's not as embarrassing as letting him play hockey professionally.