Shelleys Days Numbered After Brutal Preseason Hit

In tonight’s 4-2 preseason loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs, Flyers enforcer Jody Shelley began the game on a line with Blair Betts and Ben Holmstrom. It was clear early on that a fire had been lit under his skates, in the form of about a half dozen prospects who are lining up to take his spot. Shelley, 35, has but five more preseason games to prove his value.

Unfortunately, he decided to prove his value by squaring Leafs prospect Darryl Boyce brutally into the boards. Leafs goon Jay Rosehill immediately came to Boyce’s defense and fought Shelley, but the outcome of the fight is irrelevant. Shelley was awarded a five minute major for boarding and a game misconduct. The chatter around the NHL is that the Shelley may also face a suspension from Brendan Shanahan, who replaced Colin Campbell as the NHL’s discisplinarian. [Editor’s note- Shelley is expected to receive a five-plus game suspension, according to Nick Kypreos of Hockeycentral]

In Shelley’s defense, some responsibility falls on Boyce to know that he is up against the boards, behind the net, and to be aware of the danger associated with that. It doesn’t help Shelley that he laid into him head on, though. He had to have known the vulnerability of Boyce’s positioning.

The end result is that Shelley’s roster position is now very much in question.  Add to the discussion his $1.1 million salary eats up a chunk of change and his future becomes even murkier. From an armchair general manager perspective, the Flyers could ice a third line of Matt Read-Brayden Schenn-Wayne Simmonds and a fourth line of Andreas Nodl-Blair Betts-Max Talbot that looks very strong on paper.

Talbot, who fought briefly tonight against Philippe Dupuis, is by no means a goon but is expected to fill a similar role to Ian Laperriere- a penalty killing fourth liner who can also drop the mitts if needed. Talbot, Nodl and Betts are all versatile defensive-minded forwards, and maintaining them as both a penalty killing unit and as the fourth line makes sense.

Shelley had his moments last season. In particular, the penalty laden free-for-all against the Ottawa Senators last January exemplified Shelley’s ability to know how to draw fights and how to stand up for superstars like Claude Giroux when they were being targeted by fellow bruisers.

Following the offseason from hell where the dark side of enforcing came to light, though, who wants to see Shelley go through the same routines that have apparently been troubling enforcers for years? If there was a chance he could reduce his fighting and rely solely on his goal scoring abilities, I would be supportive of it, but let’s not kid ourselves- Shelley’s greatest assets fill a niche that, in and of itself, is on the brink of extinction.

Fighting will never be eradicated from the NHL, but the 2:00 per game players are being weeded out by players like Tom Sestito, Zac Rinaldo, and Dan Carcillo who possess some stick-handling abilities in addition to their willingness to throw down.

This will be one of the most nervewracking weeks of Shelley’s life, and I hope he comes out the other side unscathed.