Quote:
Originally Posted by ricardodw
Its all about the minutes...
Wideman 25 minutes -- has done before and minutes get inflated by PP time
Gio 23 minutes - that is what has been set as his top minutes for the last 3 years.
Brodie 23 - only a guess if he can handle more
that takes up 71 minutes out of 120 and leaves 49 minutes for 4-6
SOB - 16-20 in his 483 NHL games +18 career... he will get as much ice time as he can handle. Will likely be the #1 PK d-man. This will be the smallest team he has played for and Hartley will have him out as much as he can handle.
Russell - 14-16 in his 365 NHL games -10 career... not going to panic if he gets put out against top lines. He is significantly more physical than Smith or Butler so will take away games and minutes from them.
Between Russell (16) and SOB (18) they will take 34 minutes of ice time ... There is no reason to expect that playing on this year's version of the Flames that their ice time will be cut back.
That leaves 15 minutes for the #6 guy..... Not going to be Breen on a regular basis. That is just too much of panic mode. The coaches don't have Bouwmeester to chew up an extra 5 minutes if the #6 guy needs to be sat.
Smith has played the 15 minute role and Butler has always played more than 15 Minutes going back to his lowest total of 16 minutes in 43 games as a rookie with Buffalo 6 years ago.
Cundari was an all-star at the AHL level.
Maybe I am missing something.... Was Breen dominating at the AHL level? He was ranked behind Piskula and Carson in getting called up.
some poster said that he was non-aggressive because he was so important that he had to stay out of the penalty box. His 3 year penalty total do not support this theory.
Cundari.... who was playing at a higher more important level in the AHL had basically twice the PIM over the last 3 AHL seasons.
I think that Breen is in the AHL unless SOB or Cundari get hurt .... He might get a 5-10 game call up.
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The first bolded part - Breen had a good season, followed by a bit of a down season where Piskula and Carson were called up ahead of him (though I think Carson in particular deserved his call-up). Breen last season I believe played the toughest minutes, and did fairly well, receiving high praise from the organization.
As for the 'non-aggressive' part - half true. Breen turned it up a bit the last couple of seasons, but in the interview he stated he had to pick his spots better so as to not be a liability for the Heat. He was an important piece on the Heat, and most of the guys he would end up fighting (or challenged by at least) were not key cogs to their respective teams for the most part.